摘 要

幽默作为一种普遍存在的语言现象，已经广泛渗透到社会生活的各个方面。它富有魅力，充满智慧，是所有文化、语言、习语的核心部分。幽默可以减轻压力，调节人际关系，提高生活质量。近年来，随着互联网的普及，大量的海外电视剧出现在国内媒体上。通过其独特的文化氛围和幽默，英美电视剧获得了大众的关注和喜爱。
本文基于传统幽默理论的研究背景，以电视剧《唐顿庄园》和《老友记》为研究对象去探寻英美幽默语言的差异。首先我对幽默的定义进行了梳理，深入探索幽默的三大传统理论：优越论，释放论以及乖讹论，并对以往关于幽默的研究进行了大致的总结。随后，本文从两部电视剧中收集幽默语言的样本，并对英式幽默中的语境假设，隐喻，讽刺和美式幽默中语调，语音歧义以及词汇歧义等语言技巧进行了阐述。最后，从历史和性格因素的角度进一步阐释了上述幽默独特的文化差异。通过以上研究更加有助于我们深入地欣赏美式幽默与英式幽默的魅力，从而提高我们对英语这门语言的理解和应用能力。

关键词： 英式幽默；美式幽默；传统幽默理论；语言技巧；文化差异

Abstract

As a pervasive language phenomenon, humor widely penetrates every aspect of social life. It is charming, full of wisdom, and has special pragmatic effects in interpersonal communication. Humor is the nuclear part of all cultures, languages, idiolects, and registers of speech. It can reduce pressure, regulate interpersonal relationships, and improve life quality.

In recent years, along with the popularity of the Internet，a large number of overseas TV plays appear in domestic media. Through its unique cultural atmosphere and humor, British and American TV series get the interests and favorites of the mass.

Based on the research background of humor study, this thesis takes Downton Abbey and Friends as examples to explore the linguistic and cultural differences between British and American humor. Firstly, this thesis collects the definitions of humor, explores the traditional theories: superiority theory, relief theory, and incongruity theory, and makes a general summary of previous studies on humor. Subsequently, the thesis provides humorous samples from two TV series and explains linguistic techniques between British humor and American humor. Lastly, it further explains unique cultural differences of humor from the perspective of historical and personality factors. This study will help us to appreciate the charm of British and American humor, to improve our ability to understand and apply English.

Key Words: British humor; American humor; traditional humor theories; linguistic techniques； cultural differences

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Research Background 1

1.2 Introduction to Downton Abbey and Friends 2

1.3 Structure of the Thesis 3

2 Literature Review 4

2.1 The Nature of Humor 4

2.1.1 Definitions of Humor 4

2.1.2 Classifications of Humor 5

2.2 Traditional Theories of Humor 5

2.2.1 Superiority Theory 6

2.2.2 Relief Theory 6

2.2.3 Incongruity Theory 7

2.3 Previous Studies on Humor 7

3 Analysis of Humor in Downton Abbey and Friends 9

3.1 Linguistic Techniques of British Humor in Downton Abbey 9

3.1.1 Contextual Assumption 9

3.1.2 Metaphor 10

3.1.3 Irony 11

3.2 Linguistic techniques of American humor in Friends 11

3.2.1 Intonation 12

3.2.2 Phonological Ambiguity 12

3.2.3 Lexical Ambiguity 13

4 Cultural Differences behind American and British Humor 14

4.1 History 14

4.2 Personality 15

5 Conclusions 17

5.1 Summary of Major Findings 17

5.2 Limitations and Suggestion for Future Research 17

References 19

Acknowledgements 21

Linguistic and Cultural Differences in American and British Humor

---A Case Study of Downton Abbey and Friends

1 Introduction

1.1 Research Background

The research on humor can be traced back to 2000 years ago. They studied humor from perspectives like anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, history, linguistics, and literature. With the development of linguistics, more linguists focused on this peculiar language phenomenon.

In 1923, Malinoski first proposed the context of the situation in The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages. He believed that utterances and situations are bounded up entirely with each other, and the context of situations is indispensable for an understanding of the words. The first theory about humor, which is based on linguistics, is Raskin's（1985）Script-based Semantic Theory of Humor in Semantic Mechanism of Humor. This theory holds that the semantic script opposite is the primary factor that causes humor. A lot of linguists such as J. L. Austin, H. P. Grace, Wilson, etc. have contributed a lot in this field. With the help of Austin's Speech Act Theory, Grice' Cooperative Principle, Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory, humor study has entered into a new era.

Pan (2009) compares the similarities and differences of humor in Chinese and English advertisements to explore the cultural roots that cause the difference. Wang (2013) and Tang (2014) take Friends and Apartment as examples. They compare humor in Chinese and American sitcoms from the aspect of cultural context. Sun (2016) took The IT Crowd and The Office as data. He found that the planning factor in the mode of discourse does not cause a humorous effect in American and British series. This may because these two sitcoms are situated in the office. The situation and relationship are relatively fixed.

There is a widespread perception of humor as a very subjective and culture-specific phenomenon. Meanwhile humor is an integral part of communication and a ubiquitous language phenomenon (Wang, 2002). It is presented in our daily life. Therefore, modern people with enormous pressure are more willing to use humor to release their tension in their life. Humor makes a vast contribution to daily communication. So many scholars devote themselves to the study of humor. For another thing, both the production and comprehension of humor rely on the use of language in our social life. It also has close relations with different cultural backgrounds. People may learn the way to better appreciate British and American humor and express humorous dialogues adequately. It will help us further understand the linguistic and cultural differences between England and America.

This thesis has both theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically, in the framework of the theory, this thesis attempts to explore humor based on traditional theories.

The significance is that through analyzing linguistic and cultural differences of British and American humor generative mechanisms. We can see humor between the two countries and master the cultural background. This thesis will enhance our understanding and the appreciation ability of humor.