UNDERSTANDING VERBAL HUMOR THROUGH IMPLICATURE AND ENTAILMENT IN THREADS COMMENT INTERACTIONS
Abstract
This research focuses on examining humor within online communication by investigating implicature and entailment found in comments on social media. The data were collected using a documentation technique by capturing screenshots of humorous comments on the Threads platform. The data were analyzed through implicature and entailment analysis using pragmatic and semantic perspectives. The results indicate that implicature is a key aspect in the understanding of humor, as the majority of comments depend on suggested meanings rather than direct statements. Conversely, entailment serves as an supporting component that creates logical connections but is frequently overshadowed by the interpretation based on context. Furthermore, the digital environment, including shared knowledge, informal language, and an engaging communication style, greatly impacts the way humor is created and perceived. Consequently, humor in social media serves not only as a source of amusement but also reflects the users’ pragmatic skills and inventive use of language.
Downloads
References
Abdulasalam, T., & Ja’afar, I. H. (2021). Pragmatic analysis of racial humor in online discourse. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Culture, 7(6), 489–498. https://doi.org/10.21744/ijllc.v7n6.1968
Androutsopoulos, J. (2021). Networked multilingualism and online interaction. Discourse, Context & Media, 40, 100471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2020.100471
Attardo, S. (2021). The linguistics of humor: An introduction. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198791270.001.0001
Attardo, S. (2023). Humor in the digital age: A pragmatic approach. Internet Pragmatics, 6(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00085.att
Bień, J. (2021). Humor and interaction in digitally mediated communication. Pragmatics and Society, 12(3), 389–408. https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.20027.bie
Bou-Franch, P., & Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, P. (2021). Analyzing digital discourse: New insights and future directions. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 25(5), 692–710. https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12484
Burgers, C., Brugman, B. C., Renardel de Lavalette, K. Y., & Steen, G. J. (2023). Humor and sarcasm in computer-mediated communication. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 42(4), 456–473. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X231155812
Canestrari, C., & Bianchi, I. (2024). Irony, sarcasm and humor in digital discourse: Pragmatic and cognitive perspectives. Pragmatics & Cognition, 31(2), 145–163. https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.22032.can
Chatzikyriakidis, S., & Luo, Z. (2021). Natural language inference and entailment. Journal of Logic, Language and Information, 30(2), 151–170. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10849-021-09330-2
Chovanec, J. (2021). Saving one's face from unintended humour: Impression management in follow-up sports interviews. Journal of Pragmatics, 176, 198–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.01.021
Dynel, M. (2021). Sarcasm, irony and humor in social media. Journal of Pragmatics, 175, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.01.002
Dynel, M. (2022). Implicature and humor in online interaction. Language & Communication, 84, 95–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2022.02.003
Dynel, M. (2023). Humor and meaning in computer-mediated communication. Journal of Pragmatics, 210, 12–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2023.04.001
Elder, C.-H. (2021). Microaggression or misunderstanding? Implicatures, inferences and accountability. Journal of Pragmatics, 179, 37–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.04.020
Ervas, F., & Ledda, A. (2022). Irony recognition in digital communication: A pragmatic approach. Lingua, 276, 103392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2022.103392
Feyaerts, K. (2022). Online humor and pragmatic inferencing in social media discourse. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 35(2), 201–220. https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2021-0091
Herring, S. C. (2021). Computer-mediated discourse analysis. In Pragmatics of Computer-Mediated Communication (pp. 1–28). https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110214468-001
Huang, Y. (2021). Pragmatics (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199697960.001.0001
Huang, Y. (2024). Recent developments in implicature theory. Pragmatics & Cognition, 31(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.00075.hua
Jundiyaturrahman, H. M., Akmal, H., Suriadi, M. A., & Sa’diyah, S. (2024). Conversational incongruity and humor in Facebook memes: A pragmatic study of online language use. Journal of Pragmatics Research, 7(2), 458–482. https://doi.org/10.18326/jopr.v7i2.458-482
Lew, K. (2022). Humor in online communication: A pragmatic perspective. Journal of Pragmatics, 190, 35–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2022.01.002
Maraev, V., Breitholtz, E., Howes, C., Larsson, S., & Cooper, R. (2021). Something old, something new, something borrowed, something taboo: Interaction and creativity in humour. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, Article 654615. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.654615
Norrick, N. R. (2021). Humor in conversational interaction. Pragmatics and Society, 12(4), 509–528. https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.21015.nor
Pérez-Sabater, C. (2021). Irony and humor in social media interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 178, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.03.004
Tagg, C. (2021). Exploring digital communication: Language in action. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315670836
Togans, L. J., Holtgraves, T., Kwon, G., & Morales Zelaya, T. E. (2021). Digitally saving face: An experimental investigation of cross-cultural differences in the use of emoticons and emoji. Journal of Pragmatics, 186, 277–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.09.016
Yus, F. (2022). Contextual constraints and humor interpretation in digital discourse. Internet Pragmatics, 5(1), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00060.yus
Yus, F. (2023). Pragmatics of internet humour. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81931-2
