Verbal Humor in Chinese Debate From the Perspective of Cooperative Principle ——Taking Let’s Talk for Example

Xiaohui Yu, Kunyan Song

Article ID: 10156
Vol 7, Issue 10, 2024

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Abstract


This paper analyzes the conversational implicature of verbal humor based on Grice’s cooperative principle (CP) to explore its generative mechanism in Chinese debate, taking a debate talk show in China, Let’s Talk for example with qualitative analysis method. There are
mainly three findings: firstly, the essence of debating language is violating the maxim of quantity. Secondly, sometimes it is necessary for
debaters to confound some concepts to confuse opponents and create humor. Thirdly, the violations of CP frequently emerging in debating
can be employed as a strong strategy to create humor, engage and persuade audience. This paper hopes to provide rhetorical and pragmatic
strategies for debaters in Chinese debating.

Keywords


Verbal Humor; Cooperative Principle; Let’s Talk

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18686/ijmss.v7i10.10156

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