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Article published In:
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 32:2 (2019) ► pp.650–684

Metaphor and metonymy in jokes

Evidence from Cognitive Linguistics and frame-shifting theory [1] 1

| Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

Over the last few years there has been a rapprochement between Cognitive Linguistics and semantic theories of humour based on the notion of script or frame. By drawing on Ritchie’s version of the theory of frame-shifting (2005) and reviewing the cognitive linguistic account of humour, we shall demonstrate how the interpretation of jokes containing a metaphor or a metonymy involves two cognitive-pragmatic tasks: the completion of the metaphorical/metonymic mapping that results in a new frame, and the resolution of the joke’s incongruity via a contrast with the surrounding frames of the joke.

We also develop a classification of frame shifts according to their ontological structure (non-metaphorical/metonymic shifts and shifts based on metaphorical and/or metonymic reasoning) and the degree of the interpreter’s inferential activity (conceptual filling out and metaphor/metonymy replacement). In doing so, we attempt to identify some of the defining features of humorous metaphors and metonymies, as well as other phenomena that may also characterise jokes.

Keywords: cognitive linguistics, jokes, frame-shifting, metaphor, metonymy
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Metaphor and metonymy
  • 3.Metaphor and metonymy in jokes
    • 3.1Non-metaphorical/metonymic shifts
    • 3.2Shifts based on metaphorical and/or metonymic reasoning
      • 3.2.1Shifts based on conceptual filling out
      • 3.2.2Shifts based on metaphor/metonymy replacement
    • 3.3Humorous vs. non-humorous metaphors and metonymies
    • 3.4Cued vs. non-cued jokes
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 5 November 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.16047.her
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