The Analysis of Conversational Implicature of English Nonce Words in Comic Humor

Abstract Based on Grice’s cooperation principle (CP)， this essay attempts to explore the conversational implicature (CI) of English nonce words in comic humor with many examples from famous U.S sitcom Friends. From this new perspective， the paper proposes that the conversational implicatue in comic humor rcannot only be traditionally involved on sentence level， but also in new-coined words or phrases， so the reflection of the speaker’s particular communicative needs can be exactly conveyed.

Key words cooperation principal; conversational implicature; nonce words; comic humor; context; function

中圖分類號：G424 文獻標識碼：A

1 Introduction

The conversation， as the most common and natural form of communication， is the key issue for pragmatics study of human language. Paul Grice made an attempt to explain the course of natural conversation， in which implied messages are frequently involved. His idea is that in making conversation， the participants must first of all be willing to cooperate; otherwise， it would not be possible for them to carry on the talk. This general principle is called the Cooperative Principle (CP). It is interesting and important to note that while participants nearly always observe the CP， they do not always observe these maxims; hence his or her language becomes indirect. It means， in Grice’s term， that the Conversational Implication (CI) occurs. In fact， CI cannot only be traditionally involved on sentence level， but also at lexical level. From the perspective of CI and coupled by some humorous dialogues in US sitcom Friends， this paper will try to analysis the CI of the nonce word used in comic humor.

2 Definition of nonce word in humor

Nonce word is defined as “a word coined for a particular occasion and not accepted into general usage.” in Longman Modern English Dictionary. In conversational context， the nonce word is the word created on the spot， but it can also， through frequency of use， becomes a conventionalized meaning. The nonce word is the result of the purposeful imitation of the common word， phrase or other expressions by the speaker according to communicative participants’ mutual needs. This kind of imitation is to liberate the way of speech from clich€?and make the expression live vivid， humor and irony so as to enhance the persuasiveness of the language.

The nonce word has a wide using scope. It can be used on many occasions， such as in the humorous conversation， ad， media， modern literature， etc， but the nonce word from the humorous conversation is the loin’s share because the humorous effect brought by the nonce words can make the speech indirect， and the hearer or the audience have to refer the speaker’s real meaning according to the context. The pragmatist Dascal saw precisely how the opening up of meaning was applicable to humor when he said， “Jokes…depend on the existence of these sociopragmatic devices that make indirectness possible”.① In American sitcom Friends， there are lots of nonce words coined by the six major roles (Rachel， Monica， Phoebe， Chandler， Ross， Joey) to express their special meanings or intentions in certain humorous conversational context.

3 The description of nonce words at different linguistic levels

Nonce words can be formed as once-used words or popular neologisms on different linguistic levels---phonetic level， morphological level， syntactical level.

3.1 Phonetic level

Nonce can come into being through its phonological attributes. Take one scene in Friends as an example.

(1) (Monica who is a chef got an opportunity to vie for a post in a big restaurant. She is planning the interview by offering a dinner for the boss.)

Monica: Anyway， I'm cooking dinner for him Monday night. You know， kind of like an audition. And Phoebe， he really wants you to be here， which will be great for me because then you can 'ooh' and 'ahh' and make yummy noise. ②

“Ooh” and “ahh” are all English interjections. In this context， “ooh” and “ahh” are used by the speaker as communicative verbs to describe the enjoyment of the cooking. So phonetically， “ooh” and “ahh” are nonce words here creatively used to express the speaker’s special requirement for her friend to give a sound of compliment for her food.

3.2 Morphological level

Nonce word can also be coined flexibly during the morphological process. For example:

(2) Monica: (brings a plate of tiny appetizers over) Here you go， maybe this'll

cheer you up.

Chandler: Ooh， you know， I had a grape about five hours ago， so I'd better split this with you.

Monica: It's supposed to be that small. It's a pre-appetizer. The French call it an amouz-bouche.

Chandler: (tastes it) Well.... it is amouz-ing... [ibid]

In this conversation， Chandler’s word “amouz-ing” is a totall nonce word coined by him at that point through making using of the morphological similarity with the word “amazing”. He borrowed the former part “amouz” as an English verb and gave it the inflectional form “ing”. The speaker is t smart enough to make the conversation interesting by saying “it is amouz-ing” while actually means “it is amazing”.

3.3 Syntactical level

Nonce words can still be coined by untraditional grammatical rules. Syntactically， they are unacceptable expressions， but in a certain conversational context， they are suitable or even necessary for the speaker to convey the special intention. Here is an example from Friends.

(3) (Scene: Ross came back from China with a new girlfriend， but Rachel has realized that she still loves Ross during his leaving. So Rachel felt very sad and didn’t know how to face Ross’ new girlfriend situation.)

Ross: You're bleeding.

Rachel: I am? Oh， look at that， yes I am. Enough about me， enough about me， Mr. Back from the Orient. I wanna hear everything!

Ross: Well， where do I start? This is Julie. Julie， this is Rachel. [ibid]

Here “Mr. Back from the Orient” is a nonce word produced by Rachel. Actually， it means Mr. Ross who came back from China. Syntactically， “Mr.” is an addressing which should be followed by a noun， but in this case， it is followed by an adverb phrase. The intention of the context is humorously conveyed by applying this untranditional syntax.

From the three aspects mentioned above， it can be inferred that nonce words formations are ad-hoc formations. They can be characterized as: (a) context-dependent. From the point of view of a speaker (or better， a coiner)， every nonce-formation is accurately delimited and well defined. Consequently， context-dependence is the matter of the listener/reader. (b) Deviance. It means that nonce formations are not conforming to the language’s word-formation rules or related conditions. (c) Non-lexicalizability. It means that mostly they cannot become established or listed items because they are mostly exaggerated improvisations. Since nonce-formations are not listed， by implication， they are formed anew or put together actively or creatively each time they are used in the speech.

4 Function of nonce words in different contexts

The function of nonce word at different context is actually concerned about the CI of the nonce word. CI comes as the result of the violation of any maxims of CP. Grice defined CP as “make your conversational contribution such as is required， at the stage at which it occurs， by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged”.③ According to Grice， there are four maxims in CP. a) Maxims of quantity: make your contribution as informative as is required; do not make your contribution more informative than is required. b) Maxims of quality: try to make your contribution true and more specific; do not say what you believe to be 1; do not say what you lack adequate evidence for; c) Maxims of relation: be relevant; d) Maxims of manner: avoid the obscurity and ambiguity of expression; be brief and orderly [ibid]. In Grice’ CP theory， each violation of the Maxims can produce a kind of CI. The coinage of the nonce word in a certain conversational context， especially the humorous context， can also be one or two of those violations. The main functions of nonce words are just their CI in certain context. We can analyze this just from the examples in Friends mentioned earlier.

In example (1)， the use of nonce words 'ooh' and 'ahh' violates the Maxims of quantity， since the speaker didn’t make her speech clearly and informative （the speaker should say “you can praise the good taste of my food”）， the CI can be inferred that the speaker was so excited and confident with her cooking that she wanted her friend to support her. In example (2)， the use of the nonce word “amouz-ing” violates the Maxim of manner. To the hearer， the speaker’s intention was obscure， he barely understood the French word “amouz”.But by playfully using “amouzing” as the substitute for English word “amazing”， CI presents the point that the speaker want show his reluctant praise or mock of the naming of the French food (amouz-bouche)in a humorous way. In example (3)， the use of the nonce word “Mr. Back from the Orient” violates both Maxims of quantity and Maxims of manner. Substituting “Mr. Back from the Orient” for “Mr.Ross” in that context made the speaker’s speech not only more informative than is required， which violates Maxims of quantity; but also less order and brief， which violates Maxims of manner. But in this way， the CI is that the speaker didn’t know how to speak right words when she saw her lover’s new girlfriend.

5 Conclusion

From all the argument above， it can be concluded that CI cannot only be traditionally expressed at the sentence level， but also at lexical level. Nonce word， as a once-used words or phrase， are commonly used in humorous situation.（下轉第154頁）（上接第146頁） Its formation is a kind of ad-hoc formation which is context-dependent， rules-deviant and non-lexicalized. ④Nonce word coined in humorous context can convey a certain CI whatever phonetically， morphologically， syntactically or semantically. And the function of nonce words at different contexts is actually concerned about the Conversational Implicature in different violations of those four Maxims in Grice’s CP. So understanding the CI of the nonce word in a humorous context is not only the crucial part of comprehending the speaker’s utterance ， but also the key point for a smooth communication.