从修辞角度看英语幽默的语言特色.doc

期刊文献均是精品，欢迎下载学习！从修辞角度看英语幽默的语言特色王燕 (湖南大众传媒职业技术学院 国际传播系，湖南 长沙 410100)摘要：幽默，是一种语言现象，也是种文化现象，更是语言的一种特质。正是因为其鲜活、生动的特点才使得语言如此丰富多彩。一定程度上说，幽默的产生有时是源于对语言规则的违背。本文试图从修辞的角度阐述英语语言中幽默的诞生及其语言特色，从而提供一种欣赏理解英语幽默的方法和角度。关键词：修辞；英语幽默；语言特色一引言幽默，是种语言现象，也是种文化现象，更是语言的一种特质。幽默的神妙之处在于其用简单、诙谐的语言来表达一个深刻的道理，使人忍俊不禁。循规蹈矩的语言，因为有了幽默，而显得是那么的鲜活生动，丰富多彩！我们的生活也是因为有了幽默的点缀，而变得绚丽多姿，充满欢乐。英语幽默，存在于英语国家社会生活各个层面，已完全溶入其文化的血脉和民族的个性细胞中。传统意义上看，西方文化传统似乎更蕴涵幽默成分，这可以从他们早期的文学作品中反映出来。从乔叟（Geoffrey Chaucer）到马克.吐温（Mark Twain）以及海明威（Ernest Hemingway），他们无不是幽默大师。也许正因为如此，他们的作品才受到更多人的喜爱。所以，研究学习西方语言文化的人，不能不懂得欣赏英语幽默。幽默的产生在不同的语言文化中既有其共性的成分，也有其相异的特质。这也就是为什么在一种语言中令人喷饭的幽默到了另一种语言文化的人那里却无动于衷的原因。英语幽默的产生缘由也是多种多样的，有通过音、义、形“扭曲”致变而产生的，也有逻辑修辞绝妙搭配而来。本文主要从修辞的角度来讨论英语幽默的生成。二修辞视角下的幽默生成及语言特色结构主义认为，人的任何行为都是制约于一套规范系统的。社会的规范在于“集体心智”(collective mind; Emile Durkheim);心理上的规范在于心理机能；而语言的规范则在于语言规则。美国语言学家惠特尼（William Dwight Whitney）认为，语言是种制度，正是许多类似的制度而构成了一个社团的文化。而且，语言具有“符号性、任意性、惯例性、不变性和可变性”特征。乔姆斯基(N. Chomsky)认为：语话的生成和组合必须符合语言和人们千百年来在使用该语言过程中所约定俗成的规则。否则，就会产生像 Colorless green ideas sleep furiously这样荒谬且无意义的句子来。于是，他提出选择概念（selectional restriction）和子句类化（sub-categorization）。只有这样，才能语相容义，句法正确。从词的使用方面来看，哈里斯（Harris）提出了“从属”说（dependence）。即词与词之间有一种相互依赖、相互约定关系，破坏这种关系就会产生怪诞的词语。格赖斯（H.P Grice）则提出说话人和听话人必须遵守“合作原则”，即：量原则、质原则、关系原则和方式原则。这些理论从各个不同角度界定语言使用及交际过程中所必须遵循的规范、准则（norms and rules）。但是，从语法层面看，幽默语言往往是和这些原则相背的。那么我们是否可以说幽默语言是对语言规范的“背叛”呢？本人认为不是，原因如下：其一，幽默语言不影响交际，幽默仍然是信息的载体。有可能影响交际的唯一因素是受话者的文化素养（即受话人不能把握或不能全面把握幽默的真正内涵）；其二，幽默语言是充分利用了语言的可变性特点，运用语言的内在机制，通过巧妙的修辞手段、逻辑安排或是句词的交叉歧合而导致了幽默的生成。人们在进行语言交际时，从开始的识别层次到达获得语义解释，必然要经过一系列的心理计算。如果得到的语义结果与预期的相反或是相背，则要么是产生交际障碍，要么是生成幽默。以下我们从几个常见修辞手段来探讨英语幽默所产生的幽默。1.自相矛盾（Paradox）说话者言论前言不对后语，结论与立论产生矛盾而致幽默。如: A reporter called on an old fellow who had just celebrated his hundredth birthday and asked him a few questions. “To what do you attribute your longevity?” asked the reporter. “I never smoked, drank, or overate, and I always rise at six in the morning.” “But”, protested the reporter, “I had an uncle who acted in that way, yet he only lived to be eighty. How do you account for that?” “He didnt keep it up long enough,” was the calm reply.百岁老人庆祝了他的一百岁生日，当一名记者向他讨教长寿之道时，他娓娓道来，列举了不吸烟、不喝酒以及不暴饮暴食、准时起床等好习惯。而当记者问到他叔叔也有同样的好习惯却没有活到一百岁时，老人说：那是他家叔叔“坚持得不够长的缘故。”老人实际上是答非所问，转移了主题，造成自相矛盾。他把记者叔叔之所以在八十岁以后没有像他那样再活二十年归咎于其八十岁后没再坚持那些好习惯。正常的逻辑是：他活着就能坚持，他死后就无法坚持。2.讥讽（Sarcasm）讥讽是英语幽默中一种使用较多的手法。说话人用较尖刻的语言，或抨击时弊、揭露丑恶、虚伪，或嘲笑无知、愚顽。请看:My brother was “going steady” for the first time and was anxious about meeting his girlfriends parents.“Well.” my mother asked on his return home, “how did it go?” “Oh. Mom.” he said. “I think his parents really like me. Her father offered three times to drive me home!” 我的哥哥自不量力，自做多情，将对方“父亲三次主动提出要开车送 我回家”当作是对他的敬重。殊不知对方对他已是厌恶以及，惟恐他赖着不走。 3.嘲笑（Ridicule） 嘲笑就是对某事物进行善意的揶揄。这一修辞手法可使幽默的表现更直观、具体，其方式也较易被感受、理解。因此这种幽默更接近生活、更大众化。如:Being rather bald, I have long been comforting myself on a visit to the hairdresser with the opening gambit. “Grass does grow on a busy road.” However，I was not prepared for the response of one barber : “We always say there is sense in putting a roof on an empty barn. ”4.双关(Pun) 运用双关，一方面可使语言幽默、风趣，另一方面可使其表达的意思含蓄曲折,富含韵味，生动活泼。在英语幽默中，该手法的使用分为词双关和语义双关。(1)Patient: “Doc. I swallowed my watch.” Doctor: “Does it hurt?”Patient: “Only when I wind it.” (词双关)(2)I promised my girlfriend a gold necklace for her birthday. When the jeweler quoted a price for one I liked, I let out a long, low whistle. “And how much are they then?” I asked, pointing to another tray. “For you.” replied the jeweler, “about three whistles.”（语义双关）5.对偶（Antithesis）英语中将结构相近、语气一致意思相关的句子连接起来使用，以增强语势，突出幽默。此修辞手法所产生的幽默特点是：与其说幽默是用词成句而生成幽默，还不如说是其结构所产生的幽默。语义所产生的幽默已不再重要。其结构有时是呆板的。它必须由两个或两个以上“形似的句子”组成，能形成对比、反差。例如:“Mama, Ive got a stomach ache.” said Nellie, aged eight. “Thats because youve been without lunch. Your stomach is empty. You would feel better if you had something in it.” That afternoon the minister called, and in the course of conversation remarked that he had been suffering all day with a severe headache. “Thats because your head is empty.” said Nellie. “You would feel better if you had something in it.”当牧师来访并诉说他一天来头疼得厉害时，Nellie又用他母亲对他说过同样结构的话回敬他时，幽默就由此而生。牧师不学无术、哗众取宠的本性受到嘲弄。语言的效果是辛辣、圆滑，想必牧师只有汗颜的份了。6.拟人（Personification）将无生命或无感情的事物赋予思想，使之更生动形象。例如:The teacher was giving her class of seven-year-olds a natural history lesson. “Worker ants!” she told them, “can carry pieces of food five times their own weight. What do you conclude from this?” One child was ready for the answer: “They dont have a union.” 老师在课堂上问学生为什么蚂蚁能搬运比自身重五倍的物体，这本是十分平常的问题，如果我们照直从蚂蚁的身体功能等方面来回答，就会显得平淡无奇，学生将蚂蚁劳累的原因归于其没有工会，就将蚂蚁人格化了。拟人拉近了人与所拟物的距离。又转换了我们平时的“审物”视角。故而能产生不同寻常的幽默效果。7.夸张(Hyperbole) 夸张是有意将事情夸大或缩小，用以说明作者的感情,渲染场景，从而引起读者的想象和共鸣。从而在特定场合和语境情况下产生幽默。例如:After a fierce dust storm, an Arizona rancher spied a handsome cowboy hat by the side of the road. Assuming a fortunate windfall, he picked up the hat only to reveal the head of a wide-eyed cowboy who explained he had been caught in dune country by the blowing sand. “Hold on,” said the Samaritan. “Ill fetch a shovel from the truck and dig you out.” “Better go back to town and bring a tractor,” suggested the cowboy. “Im a-sitting on my horse.”8.含沙射影（Innuendo）从一定角度来讲，含沙射影的手法正好吻合了大多数幽默需要表达含蓄、隐锐的特点，更让人回味无穷。例如:When I was waiting in line at the bank, 1 noticed a woman holding a small child at one of the windows. The boy was eating a roll, which he thrust at the teller. The teller smiled and shook his head. “No, no, dear,” said the boys mother, then, turning to the teller, “I beg your pardon, young man. Please forgive my son. Hes just been to the zoo.”9.反话(Irony) 说话者有时故意正话反说或反话正说,采用反话法.即表面上进行颂扬,实则在抨击;也有可能是表面上在批评实则在维护。例如:A repairman was repairing the roof of a church when a gust of wind blew his ladder down. He was not worried, because he thought he could ask for help of the passers-by by waving to them. When he got home, he told his wife about this. “You could ask for help of the passers-by,” his wife suggested. “I know. But we have too many friendly people in our town. When I waved to them, they waved back.”10.拙劣的模仿(Parody) 在语言习德过程中,鹦鹉学舌是必要方法之一。而生活中，模仿历来就有东施效颦之嫌，特别是呆板的模仿就更显得令人发笑。The room clerk at New York City hotel became familiar with one of the guests. and the two began swapping jokes. “I have a riddle,” the clerk said, “My mother and father had a baby. It wasnt my brother or sister. Who was it?” The visitor thought for a moment and then said, “I dont know.” “It was me!” answered the clerk. The visitor returned home and decided to try the riddle on his friend. “My parents had a baby. It wasnt my brother or sister. Who was it?” “I dont know,” his friend replied. “Who was it?” “A room clerk in New York.”三结语通过修辞手段产生幽默是英语幽默中常见的形式。幽默植根于生活，又高于生活。幽默语言是有其独特性的。首先，是陈事说理但又不是简单的平铺直入，而是采取一种较为隐蔽、迂回的方法。它必须有令人忍俊不禁的功能。不管是会心笑、大笑、嘻笑，还是难言的笑。它无论是骂你、嘲弄你、讽刺你，还是善意的规劝你，你都只能“坐以待毙、任其宰割”。更重要的是，幽默的神奇之处还在于它在嘻笑怒骂之时，折射出深刻的道理，给人以启迪。对幽默的理解和认识同样需要较高的文化素养。幽默除体现智慧，更是感情的迂回表达，需要文化的累积。为幽默而幽默只能是弄巧成拙。幽默的又一语言特点是它不同于其它文体，具有“爆发性”和“突然性”。用词造句更是虚中有实，阐明事理，道出精神。注释及参考文献：1莫友元.英语幽默小品M. 湖南：中南工业大学出版社，1995.2刘润清.西方语言学流派M. 北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1999.3林纪威.合作原则相对论略J.现代外语，1991(2) .4刘长