A pragmatic analysis of humour in American TV talk shows

Abstract EN

This research is conducted to study the phenomenon of humour pragmatically in TV talk shows.

Though humour is found in daily conversation, most people ignore how it is working in the production.

The concept of humour indicates both positive (non- aggressive) and negative (aggressive) affects which may unify or divide people, but it is more preferable to take positive humour into the consideration of this research to narrow down the topic.

The objectives of this research are to analyze the maxims that are violated to create humor, to describe and explain the production of humour by examining the pragmatic structure of humorous transcripts, and to explain the functions of humor created through maxims violation expressed by speakers in TV talk shows.

This research is conducted by using qualitative method.

The data are in the form of utterances done by speakers.

The data sources of this research are selected from the videos on You Tube Channel.

After being collected, the data are analyzed based on three levels: the initiation of humour and its purpose, the pragmatic strategies of humour, and functions of humor.

As a result, criticism is the essential purpose of using humour.

Additionally, all Leech's maxims are relatively violated among the speakers with special focus on tact and approbation maxims whereas the violation of Grice's maxims is highly found in quality more than other maxims because of the lack of truth in the humourous utterances.

Finally, Affiliative function is the most preferable one attracted by speakers to reach simply their goal behind This research is conducted to study the phenomenon of humour pragmatically in TV talk shows.

Though humour is found in daily conversation, most people ignore how it is working in the production.

The concept of humour indicates both positive (non- aggressive) and negative (aggressive) affects which may unify or divide people, but it is more preferable to take positive humour into the consideration of this research to narrow down the topic.

The objectives of this research are to analyze the maxims that are violated to create humor, to describe and explain the production of humour by examining the pragmatic structure of humorous transcripts, and to explain the functions of humor created through maxims violation expressed by speakers in TV talk shows.

This research is conducted by using qualitative method.

The data are in the form of utterances done by speakers.

The data sources of this research are selected from the videos on You Tube Channel.

After being collected, the data are analyzed based on three levels: the initiation of humour and its purpose, the pragmatic strategies of humour, and functions of humor.

As a result, criticism is the essential purpose of using humour.

Additionally, all Leech's maxims are relatively violated among the speakers with special focus on tact and approbation maxims whereas the violation of Grice's maxims is highly found in quality more than other maxims because of the lack of truth in the humourous utterances.

Finally, Affiliative function is the most preferable one attracted by speakers to reach simply their goal behind humour.