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mentioned that humour is a fluid of the body, esp one of the four that were formerly believed to determine temperament; the ability to appreciate or express
what is funny 2002: 182. As
an addition,
Attardo in
Katia Spanakaki
in www.translationjournal.net mentions that, in the field of literary criticism for
instance, there is a need for a fine-grained categorization, whereas linguists have often accepted broader definitions, arguing that whatever evokes laughter or is felt
to be funny is humour, e.g. that humour can be deduced from its effect. As an addition, Katia Spanakaki also states that there are three general
categories of humourjokes: a universal humourjokes, b culture-specific humourjokes, and c language-specific humourjokes.
1. Wordplay or Punning
Widely known, wordplay as one type of humour is quite common in oral cultures as a method of reinforcing meaning. It is stated in www.wikipedia.com
that wordplay is a literary and narrative technique in which the nature of the words used themselves becomes part of the subject of the work. Puns, phonetic
mix-ups such as spoonerisms, obscure words and meanings, clever rhetorical excursions, oddly formed sentences, and telling character names are common
examples of wordplay. Wordplay or punning, is defined by Delabastita as follow: Wordplay is
the general name for the various textual phenomena in which structural features of the languages use are exploited in order to bring about a communicatively
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significant confrontation of two or more linguistic structures with more or less similar forms and more or less different meanings Delabastita, 1996: 128,
original emphasis. Further, the pun contrasts linguistic structures with different meanings on the basis of their formal similarity. Furthermore, a pun may be
either vertical or horizontal. “The formal similarity of two linguistic structures may clash by being co-present in the same portion of text in this case it is vertical
wordplay, or by being in a relation of contiguity by occurring one after another in the text the horizontal wordplay
”, Delabastita, 1996:128. According to wikipedia.com, pun is classified into a type of punning
which is based on the techniques that involve the phonetic values of words. Moreover, according to the type and degree of similarity, puns can be further
divided into four types namely: homonymy, homophony, homograph, and paronymy Delabastita, 1996:128. Other types of pun are proposed by Schr ter,
they are polisemy and paronymy which are specifically deal with linguistic structures 1996:210.
Below are the definition and examples of homonymy, homophony, homograph, paronimy, and polisemy.
a. Homonymy according to Delabatista is words that have identical sounds and
spelling 1996:128. As an addition, it is mentioned in wikipedia.com that homonym means words with same sounds and same spellings but with
different meanings. Examples of homonyms are stalk which as a noun can mean part of a plant, and, as a verb, to followharass a person, bear animal
and bear carry, left opposite of right and left past tense of leave. Another
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example of homonymy in the movie is “Ill need a CAT scan just to get
started” The dialogue exploits the identical sounds and spelling of the word “CAT” which refer to computer-assisted tomography scan Webster’s
Dictionary and Thesaurus, 2002: 61 or generally known as a health check up scan
and “cat” as a small animal with fur, four legs, a tail, and claws, usually kept as a pet or for catching mice, or any member of the group of similar
animals such as the lion Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2008: 212
b. Homograph according to Delabatista is words with different sounds but
identical spelling 1996:128 and in wikipedia.com, it is mentioned that the definition of homograph is words with same spellings but with different
meanings, the examples are: shift n. a change
shift n. a period at work shift v. to move quickly
Table 2.1. Examples of Homograph
Word Example of first meaning
Example of second meaning
Dove
The dove cooed at the passers-
by. A white or grey bird, often
used as a symbol of peace.
Patricia dove into the pool
with barely a splash. Past simple form of the word
dive Close
Will you please close that The tiger was now so close
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door? Change something from being
open to not being open. that I could smell it...
Not far in position.
Wind Franks arthritic fingers could
not wind up the clock again.
To turn or cause something to turn.
The wind howled through the
woodlands. A current of air moving
approximately horizontally, especially one strong enough
to be felt.
c. Homophony, by Delabatista, is defined as words which hold identical
sounds but different spellings 1996: 128. Moreover, in Wikipedia.com it is mentioned that homophone is words with same sounds but with different
meanings such as rose flower and rose past tense of rise, or differently, such as carat, caret, and carrot, or to, two and too.
d. Paronymy is the relationship between linguistic structures that are
formally similar, but not identical on either phonetic or the orthographical level. De Fries also highlighted the difference of words on the surface
level as the characteristic of paronymy. Most similarities involve only one or two letters. The similarity of paronymy is weaker than homonymy.
However, the relation is strong enough for the reader or listener to spot out De Fries in Schroter, 2005: 207. Moreover, Schroter also mentions that
paronymy is the relationship between linguistic structures that are formally
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similar, but not identical on either phonetic or the orthographical level 2005:197. The example of paronymy in the movie is the dialogue
“Someones been knotty. This wont hurt a bit.” The pun “knotty” is the play on the word “naughty”. When the dialogue was said, at the same
time, the scene showed Melman’s teasing expression. It highlights the play
betwe en the word “knotty” that refers to the elephant’s tangled trunk, and
“naughty” which represents bad behavior. The sound of “knotty” and “naughty” are not identical. However, it can be recognized that Melman
also intended to say “naughty” as the scene showed his teasing expression. e.
Polisemy is a clash of orthographically and phonetically identical structures with divergent meanings and etymologically connected.
Schr ter stated that puns can be categorized as polysemy when they have semantic link between the core items which readily established without the
assistance of additional information 2005:181. In addition, Bussman stated that polysemy is an expression which has two or more definitions
with some common features that are usually derived from a single basic meaning 1996:210. The example of polisemy in the movie is the
dialogue “Youre a little tangled, arent you?”. The word “tangled” has two
meanings being messy condition that refers to the thread, and puzzled or clueless condition of the man. The scene supports the play on both words
as when the dialogue is uttered, the scene shows t he man’s puzzled face,
and the messy condition of the thread.
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E. Pun Translation
