合作原則與英語(yǔ)幽默

于 霞，余啟華

（1.華中師范大學(xué) 外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院，湖北 武漢 430079；2.九江學(xué)院 外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院，江西 九江 332005）

合作原則與英語(yǔ)幽默

于 霞1，2，余啟華2

（1.華中師范大學(xué) 外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院，湖北 武漢 430079；2.九江學(xué)院 外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院，江西 九江 332005）

幽默是在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中產(chǎn)生、形成的一種特殊的言語(yǔ)交際。本文從語(yǔ)用學(xué)中合作原則的角度對(duì)幽默言語(yǔ)進(jìn)行實(shí)例分析,以探求語(yǔ)用與幽默的基本規(guī)律,進(jìn)而促進(jìn)人們對(duì)幽默的理解和欣賞。

合作原則；幽默

幽默是一種言語(yǔ)的藝術(shù),它短小精悍,妙趣橫生,意義雋永,反映的生活面廣。正因?yàn)樗钦Z(yǔ)言的藝術(shù)，它的產(chǎn)生一方面離不開(kāi)語(yǔ)言本身的內(nèi)在規(guī)律，另一方面也在很大程度上有賴(lài)于語(yǔ)言在語(yǔ)境中的使用情況。而語(yǔ)用學(xué)的任務(wù)就是研究把特定的話語(yǔ)(utterance)放在特定的語(yǔ)境中使用所產(chǎn)生的交際功能,探索在不同的交際環(huán)境下如何運(yùn)用語(yǔ)言的規(guī)律。幽默的產(chǎn)生和形成在許多情況下是說(shuō)話者(或作家)故意說(shuō)出與特定語(yǔ)境表面上不相干或不相關(guān)的話語(yǔ)，故意提供模糊信息，由聽(tīng)話人自己揣測(cè)說(shuō)話者的言外之意。這些構(gòu)成幽默的說(shuō)話方式正是語(yǔ)用學(xué)在幽默中的體現(xiàn)。下面筆者擬就語(yǔ)用學(xué)的合作原則來(lái)分析英語(yǔ)幽默，探討語(yǔ)用學(xué)規(guī)律是怎樣用于制造幽默效果的。

格賴(lài)斯的合作原則(Cooperative Principle)包括四大準(zhǔn)則(maxims)：一是量的準(zhǔn)則(Quantity maxim)：（1）說(shuō)話應(yīng)包含交談目的所需的信息；（2）說(shuō)話不應(yīng)包含超出需要的信息。二是質(zhì)的準(zhǔn)則(Quality maxim)：（1）不要說(shuō)虛假的話；（2）不要說(shuō)缺乏證據(jù)的話。三是關(guān)系準(zhǔn)則(Relation maxim)：努力使話語(yǔ)與正在進(jìn)行的會(huì)話有關(guān)聯(lián)。四是方式準(zhǔn)則(Manner maxim)：（1）避免歧義；（2）避免晦澀；（3）說(shuō)話簡(jiǎn)練；（4）說(shuō)話井井有條。

上述合作原則是使會(huì)話正常地、順利地進(jìn)行下去的首要前提。一般來(lái)說(shuō)，談話雙方總是遵循以上合作原則的。但這并不意味著人們?cè)诮浑H中就一定恪守這些原則。恰恰相反，人們有時(shí)會(huì)無(wú)意或有意地違反這些原則。如在交際中一方有意或無(wú)意違反了其中一條(或幾條)準(zhǔn)則，交際效果必然受到影響，容易導(dǎo)致說(shuō)話者的主觀意圖與客觀效果之間的不一致。而這種不一致，正是造成幽默的重要原因之一。因此有意或無(wú)意地違反合作原則往往會(huì)導(dǎo)致幽默的產(chǎn)生。

1.合作原則之一——數(shù)量準(zhǔn)則的違反與幽默

1.1 信息量的不足

（1）An old lady was strolling through the park when she saw Jamie with a dog.

“Does your dog bite?”she asked.

“No.”said Jamie.

When the old lady tried to pet the dog,it almost bit her fingers off.“I think you said your dog does not bite!”screamed the old lady with blood dripping from her hand."That is right,”answered Jamie.“My dog does not bite but that is not my dog.”

在這個(gè)故事中當(dāng)老太太問(wèn):“你的狗咬人嗎？”這時(shí)她所問(wèn)的是兩個(gè)信息:一是Jamie身邊的那只狗是否是他的；二是那只狗是否咬人。而Jamie只說(shuō)他的狗不咬人，但沒(méi)說(shuō)身邊那只狗不是他的，他違反了量的準(zhǔn)則,沒(méi)有提供老太太所需的全部信息,結(jié)果讓老太太遭受了皮肉之苦。

（2）A stranger on horseback came to a river with which he was unfamiliar.The traveler asked a youngster if it was deep.

“No，”replied the boy，and the rider started to cross,but soon found that he and his horse had to swim for their lives.

When the traveler reached the other side he turned and shouted，“I thought you said it wasn't deep?”

“It isn't，”was the reply，“It only takes grandfather's ducks up to their middles！”

在這個(gè)例子里，那個(gè)陌生的旅行者想過(guò)河，由于不熟悉該條河流的情況，他問(wèn)男孩河水深不深。男孩回答:“不深?！庇谑撬惴判牡仳T著馬下了河，可是不久之后他就發(fā)現(xiàn)他和他的馬必須拼命地游水，否則會(huì)被河水淹沒(méi)。上岸后他很生氣地質(zhì)問(wèn)男孩：“你說(shuō)河水不深？”男孩答：“的確不深，它只到我爺爺鴨子的腰部。”小品中旅行者真正的目的不僅是詢問(wèn)河水深不深，而且想知道他能否騎著馬直接過(guò)河。而男孩則違反量的準(zhǔn)則，沒(méi)有詳加說(shuō)明為什么在他的眼里水并不深。旅行者并沒(méi)意識(shí)到這一點(diǎn)，因而差點(diǎn)溺水。

1.2 信息量過(guò)多

（1）Aunt：How did Jimmy do his history examination?

Mother：Oh，not at all well.They asked him things that happened before the poor boy was born.

例1中，Mother本可用簡(jiǎn)單的“Oh.not at all well”來(lái)回答，非但如此，她還提供了多余信息讓Aunt始料不及，并進(jìn)而得出如下推斷：Jimmy歷史考試不及格并非他的過(guò)錯(cuò)，而是因?yàn)槔蠋焸儐?wèn)了一些他出世之前的問(wèn)題，其母親似乎在為他推托責(zé)任，聽(tīng)似“荒謬”的解釋蘊(yùn)涵抱怨，于是讀者從這則對(duì)話中揣摩出幽默意味。

2.合作原則之二——質(zhì)量準(zhǔn)則的違反與幽默

會(huì)話中因提供的信息量不足(或多余)會(huì)導(dǎo)致幽默;同樣說(shuō)話的內(nèi)容如缺乏依據(jù)，甚至完全不真實(shí)，就違反了 “質(zhì)量準(zhǔn)則”。這在幽默會(huì)話中也是很常見(jiàn)的，如：

The elderly couple had just gotten married.Preparing for bed,the wife put a glass of water on the night stand.

Then she opened a bottle of pills and took one.

“You never told me you were on medication,”the husband said.

“On,this?This is just something to make me feel young.”

“Well,if it's good for you,it’11 be good for me,”replied the husband,taking several pills.

The next morning the wife woke up and looked around

Her husband wasn't there.She searched all through the house but couldn't find him anywhere.Then she looked out the front window,and there he was sitting beside the mailbox crying his eyes out. “What's the matter,dear?”She cried,running outside.

“I miss the school bus!”he wailed.

“質(zhì)的準(zhǔn)則”要求我們?cè)捳Z(yǔ)真實(shí),故夸張的話語(yǔ)可以說(shuō)是對(duì)“質(zhì)的準(zhǔn)則”的違反,但也正是由于這種故意的極度的夸張,才產(chǎn)生了一種使人忍俊不禁的效果。中年的丈夫由于喝藥而感到年輕，一夜之間竟“返老還童”，因耽誤校車(chē)而嚎陶大哭。

3.合作原則之三——關(guān)系準(zhǔn)則的違反與幽默

會(huì)話合作原則中“關(guān)系準(zhǔn)則’，要求會(huì)話雙方所說(shuō)的話都要與話題相關(guān)，即說(shuō)話要切題。如違反這一準(zhǔn)則，一方在“說(shuō)東”，另一方卻在“道西”，或一方所答非另一方所問(wèn)，交際勢(shì)必難以進(jìn)行還往往會(huì)引起滑稽可笑的結(jié)果。

（1）A young man pretended that his eyesight was very poor when examined,so that he wasn’t called up for army service. That evening he went to a movie only to find that the doctor who had examined him was sitting beside him.Immediately he said to the man doctor，“Excuse me,mama,but does this bus go to Main Street?”

在電影院里，年輕小伙子對(duì)鄰座給他檢查過(guò)視力的男醫(yī)生說(shuō)：“女士，這路公車(chē)去梅恩大街嗎？”這與當(dāng)時(shí)的語(yǔ)境毫無(wú)關(guān)系。年輕小伙子故意違反關(guān)系準(zhǔn)則，試圖造成欲乘公共汽車(chē)而誤入影院的假象和咫尺之遙而不辨男女的假象，以掩蓋其謊言以便逃過(guò)兵役，這正給整則故事增添了幽默色彩。

（2）A little old lady crossed Times Square against the traffic and somehow managed to make it safely to the opposite curb, where the traffic cop was glaring at her with strong disapproval.“Did you see that sign?”he said.

“What sign?”the lady said.

The policeman pointed at the flashing warning on the traffic signal.“Don’t walk.”

“Oh I saw it all right,”the lady said,“but I thought it was an advertisement of a bus company.”

老太太不顧警示燈打出“不要行走”的警示,橫越街道。在警察提出質(zhì)問(wèn)時(shí)給了恰如其分的解釋。是老太太真糊涂呢，還是她巧用了幽默的技巧為自己解脫困境？

4.合作原則之四——方式準(zhǔn)則的違反與幽默

如果說(shuō) “數(shù)量準(zhǔn)則”、“質(zhì)量準(zhǔn)則”、“關(guān)系準(zhǔn)則”都是圍繞“說(shuō)什么”這一問(wèn)題的，那么“方式準(zhǔn)則”就是說(shuō)關(guān)于“怎么說(shuō)”這一問(wèn)題了。如不顧對(duì)象、場(chǎng)合、話題等具體語(yǔ)境要求，亂用錯(cuò)用詞語(yǔ)、語(yǔ)氣等，都會(huì)在說(shuō)話方式和說(shuō)話內(nèi)容之間產(chǎn)生不協(xié)調(diào)。如：

“George,I saw you kissing the maid,"said the wife grimly,“I demand an explanation.”“Now,don't jump to conclusions，”said the fast-thinking husband.“All I did was to complain that she had not dusted the living room properly and she attacked me with a broom.I had to bite her in self defense.”

當(dāng)妻子嚴(yán)厲地質(zhì)問(wèn)丈夫并要求解釋為什么“吻”（kiss）女仆時(shí)，而丈夫卻機(jī)智地回答道因?yàn)樗笈痛驋咂鹁邮?，女仆用掃帚打他，為了“自衛(wèi)”，他不得不“咬”（bite）她。丈夫的狡猾之處就是他以自衛(wèi)為借口，把“吻”（kiss）和“咬”（bite）混為一談，故意模糊其詞，為自己擺脫窘境。在此他實(shí)際上背離了方式的準(zhǔn)則，使得故事幽默可笑。

5.結(jié)尾語(yǔ)

由以上的舉例分析我們可以看出，在會(huì)話中違反合作原則會(huì)產(chǎn)生幽默效果。當(dāng)然，幽默的種類(lèi)很多，產(chǎn)生的原因也很多。在不同的語(yǔ)境中，人們對(duì)會(huì)話含義、指示語(yǔ)、言語(yǔ)行為和前提等的理解可能產(chǎn)生偏差、錯(cuò)位，這些語(yǔ)用因素都會(huì)導(dǎo)致幽默的產(chǎn)生。本文只是從違反Grice合作原則的角度對(duì)幽默的產(chǎn)生進(jìn)行了分析。筆者也期盼能與廣大語(yǔ)言學(xué)愛(ài)好者從其它各個(gè)方面進(jìn)一步探討幽默產(chǎn)生的原因和實(shí)質(zhì),因?yàn)橛哪俏覀儸F(xiàn)實(shí)生活中不可缺少的調(diào)味品,懂得幽默才能真正了解生活。

[1]何自然.語(yǔ)用學(xué)概論[M].長(zhǎng)沙:湖南教育出版社,1997.

[2]Grice.H.P.Logic&Conversation[C].Col&Morga,1975.

[3]劉福長(zhǎng).從合作原則看英語(yǔ)幽默的產(chǎn)生[J].廣州外語(yǔ)學(xué)院學(xué)報(bào),1987, (2).

[4]余燕.從合作原則看幽默言語(yǔ)[J].咸寧師專(zhuān)學(xué)報(bào),2001-02,21(1).

[5]徐曉艷.從語(yǔ)用學(xué)的角度分析英語(yǔ)幽默[J].安陽(yáng)師范學(xué)院學(xué)報(bào),2003.