朱明艳 李佳新
(东北农业大学,黑龙江哈尔滨150030)
浅析英语幽默中的同音异义类隐喻
朱明艳 李佳新
(东北农业大学,黑龙江哈尔滨150030)
现代隐喻理论把隐喻看做是认知现象。英语中同音异义类隐喻可以引起很多幽默,使枯燥的英语学习增添了几分乐趣。文章充分地分析了用于英语幽默中的同音异义类隐喻,同音异义类隐喻在新旧事物间起到了桥梁作用,以轻松的幽默形式加深了对不熟悉事物的认识。英语中产生幽默效果的同音异义类隐喻的有音同形异异义类隐喻,音异形同异义类隐喻和完全音同形同异义类隐喻。
幽默;音同形异异义词;音异形同异义词;完全音同形同异义词;隐喻认知
隐喻被提到新高度,就不再是一种语言现象,而是一种思维和行为现象,是一种人类用已有经验说明或理解新经验的认知活动,是人类认识新世界、新事物的工具。
音同异义类隐喻在日常生活中及交际等领域得到广泛应用。英国作家刘易斯·卡罗尔在作品《Alice's Adventures in Wonderland》中大量而又巧妙地运用了幽默,其中就是利用读者的音同形异异义类隐喻写的幽默语篇。
“Mine is a long and a sad tale!”said the Mouse,turning to Alice and sighing.
“It is a long tail,certainly,”said Alice,looking down with wonder at the Mouse’s tail;“but why do you call it sad?”
从上面的这段话我们不难看出,爱丽丝的困惑来自于把tale当做了tail。爱丽丝用一个象征单位[[TAIL]/[teil]]来喻说了另一个象征单位[[TALE]/[teil]],故而产生了一段令老鼠迷惑的幽默对话。
下面是一则发自丈夫内心的抱怨,然而正是音同异义类隐喻使对话产生了幽默的效果。
The things my wife buys at auctions are keeping me baroque(broke).
baroque(奇形怪状的)与broke(破产)可以被进行音同形异异义类隐喻。我们既可从字面意思来理解,又可体会其更深的含义。用一个象征单位[[BAROQUE]/[br∂uk]]来喻说了另一个象征单位[[BROKE]/[br∂uk]],生动地表达出了这位男士对于妻大手大脚花钱敢怒不敢言的心态。
英语幽默中的音异形同异义类隐喻所占比例不是很高,但是仍对英语幽默起到了不容忽视的作用。下面的幽默仅供更好地理解音异形同异义类隐喻。
The arrogant Mr.Giraffe and the loving and tender Ms.Monkey somehow got married to each other.But half a month later,Mr.Giraffe wanted a divorce.One morning,he got up early and wrote a letter to his wife then left.It read:“which guy is like me?When I want to give you a kiss,I have to bow first.I want a divorce,I can't live like this!”
After getting up and reading the letter,Ms.Monkey was very angry.She grunted to herself to show her irritation:“When did I ask you to play music with a bow?You are such a heartless man.Sure,that's just what I want.Who've seen anyone who had to climb up a tree when she wants a kiss?”
此幽默的产生原因在于用一个象征单位[[BOW]/[b∂u]]“用弓拉琴”来喻说了另一个象征单位[[BOW]/[b∂u]]“弯腰,低头,鞠躬”。音异形同异义词[[BOW]/[b∂u]]和[[BOW]/[bau]]在书面语言中容易让人产生误会,进而给阅读和领会增添了乐趣。
由于完全音同形同异义类隐喻产生的英语幽默占有很大的比例。下文一对母女的对话实属经典幽默之谈,正是音同形同异义类隐喻所产生的幽默效果。
Amy:Mom,Auntie kissed me yesterday.
Mother:How nice!Did you kiss her back,dear?
Amy:Of course not,I kissed her face.
母亲口中的back是副词词性,意指“回复,还,往回”,而女儿通过完全音同形同异义类隐喻的理解是名词词性的back“背部,背面,后面”。因而Amy回应母亲说“我吻了她的正面(面部)”。
下文是一则女孩以机灵的回答来安抚男孩混沌迷惑的心的幽默,采用的手段就是充分利用了完全音同形同异义类隐喻。
Boy:Some girls think I’m handsome and some girls think I’m horrible.What do you think,Mary?
Girl:A bit of both.
Boy:What do you mean?
Girl:Pretty ugly.
男孩问女孩:“你觉得我帅还是丑?”女孩的回答先是设下一悬念地回答:“都有点儿。”接下来的pretty ugly中pretty既可作“漂亮”解释又可作“非常”解释,通过音同形同异义类隐喻勾勒出一精灵古怪的女孩儿形象。
英语中同音异义类隐喻是在已有认知经验上帮助认识新事物的,描述和认识全新的未知事物,必须依赖我们已知和懂得的概念及其语言表述来做到由表及里,由此及彼,有时还要发挥出乎意料的想象力和创造力。这就说明了同音异义类隐喻在新旧事物间起到了桥梁作用,有着不容忽视的效果。同时,也以轻松幽默的形式加深了我们对不熟悉事物的认识。由此来看,在英语学习中,充分利用英语幽默中的同音异义类隐喻有助于积极有效地学习英语。
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On Homonymic Metaphor in English Humors
Zhu Mingyan,Li Jiaxin
(Northeast Agricultural University,Harbin Heilongjiang 150030)
Homonymic metaphor is a modern way of speaking.Metaphor is regarded as a cognitive phenomenon according to modern metaphorical theories.Homonymic metaphor in English language can cause a lot of humors which adds some amusement to tedious English learning.Homonymic metaphor in English humors was analyzed in detail.Homonymic metaphor serves as a bridge between old and new things,which can deepen the understanding toward unfamiliar things in an easy and humorous way.The homonymic metaphor which can cause humors in English includes homophone metaphor,homograph metaphor and perfect homonymic metaphor.
humor,homophone,homograph,perfect homonym,metaphorical cognition
H033
A
1672-3805(2011)05-0073-02
2011-06-12
朱明艳(1984-),女,东北石油大学华瑞学院外语系英语教研室助教,东北农业大学人文社会科学学院英语语言文学专业硕士;研究方向:认知语言学