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【摘 要】刻意曲解是言语交际中的一个普遍现象。刻意曲解是一种特殊的语用策略。在日常生活中，人们主要用它来制造幽默的效果。
【关键词】刻意曲解 策略 幽默效果
Introduction
In communication， in order to achieve a certain communicative purpose， language users often intend to use a particular discourse context or utilize the speakers’ vague and uncertain expression to misinterpret speakers’ meaning. This language phenomenon is called deliberate misinterpretation （DMI）.
The effective ways of humor caused by distortion can create humor in conversation easily by the application of deliberate misinterpretation to achieve the objective of potential communication. Listeners mainly use the uncertainties of language and the ambiguity in conversational implicature to create humorous effect caused by DMI
1 Utilizing the uncertainties of language
Uncertainty （fuzzy） is the basic property of natural language. It would affect the results of expression， and even create the misunderstanding. If making a good use of the uncertainty in language， it can not only avoid the trouble， but also help us to achieve specific communicative effects. This section mainly describes how to create humorous effects by DMI from several linguistic levels： voice， vocabulary， syntax， and discourse level.
1.1 Pronunciation level
In conversation， the same or similar sound may lead to a mistake in hearing. If he really knows what the speaker wants to convey， the hearer deliberately ignores it and create new meaning， it is a process of carrying out DMI.
For example：
Boyfriend： What is your favorite music group？
Girlfriend： “I love U2”
Boyfriend： I love you too， but what is your favorite music group？
In the example， we can see， a sense of humor created by pronunciation is owing to the homophony. “U2” and “ you too” have the same pronunciation， so under this circumstances， maybe the boy has known the answer by the girl’s words， but he wanted to make humorous effect so that he carried out the DMI to make the girl feel happy.
1.2 Vocabulary level
In some context， both of the two meanings of the polysemic word may be suitable for the expression but we have conventional usage， so the misunderstanding is possible to be avoided. However， many people deliberately distort the meaning of the sentence to achieve their special purpose， for example， creating humorous effect.
For example：
（A student goes to school to register）
Teacher： “Parents’ name” Students： “Li Dashan”
Teacher： “Relation with you”
Students： “Not very well. He often slugs me.”
In the context of school register， the teacher asks the student about the relationship with parents obviously refers to ask “Li Dashan” is father or mother， but the student misinterprets the simple relation between parent and child as interpersonal relationship. So the student successfully and humorously expresses his complaint to his father.
1.3 Discourse level
Context is a formed communicative environment when language is used. It can be said that the communicative process is actually the process of constructing contexts. DMI is based on the understanding of each other’s discourse to misinterpret the linguistic knowledge and extra linguistic knowledge.
For example：
Judge： “you stole not only money but also lots of watches， rings and necklaces.”
Defendant： “yes， sir. Because I heard that money alone does not bring happiness.”
From everyday conversational angle， the defendant’s words are no doubt correct， but in this situation， the defendant is in such a language environment， he must use formal language. However， he carries out DMI to distort facts and tries to break away from the crime， but he makes much humorous effect.
2 Utilizing the ambiguity in conversational implicature
The ambiguity in conversational implicature makes a discourse has literal meaning and implied meaning in a certain context. In communication， speakers always express the especial communicative intention to hearers by means of a certain form of language and pragmatic content.
For example：
Husband： “oh， daring， can you tell me what the fly is doing in my soup？”
Wife： “I think it is backstroke.”
According to the basic knowledge， we can get the husband’s real meaning is “：there should be no fly in my soup， the soup cannot be ate.” However， the wife deliberately answers his husband’s question according to the literal meaning——what the fly is doing， and successfully created humorous effect of DMI.
3 Conclusion
From the above， we can see DMI not only can make the language more vivid and lively， rich and colorful， but also can maintain face， reconcile the conflict， break the deadlock， create humorous effect and establish harmonious interpersonal relationship. However， everything has a degree， DMI is also the same. If you use this strategy excessively and casually without considering the application skills and constraints， it will lead to negative effects.
【References】
[1]Vendler. Understading Misunderstading. [M]. Kluwer， Dodreeht-Boston-London，1994.
[2]]Yus， F. Misunderstandings and explicit/implicit communication [J]. Pragmatics，1999（a9）： 487-517.
[3]董黎. 英语幽默集萃[M]. 北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1992.
[4]何自然，申智奇. 刻意曲解的语用研究[J]. 外语教学与研究，2004（3）.
[5]刘艳秋.语用误解与刻意曲解 [J]. 外语研究，2006（l）.
[6]冉永平，张新红. 语用学纵横[M]. 高等教育出版社，2007.
【关键词】刻意曲解 策略 幽默效果
Introduction
In communication， in order to achieve a certain communicative purpose， language users often intend to use a particular discourse context or utilize the speakers’ vague and uncertain expression to misinterpret speakers’ meaning. This language phenomenon is called deliberate misinterpretation （DMI）.
The effective ways of humor caused by distortion can create humor in conversation easily by the application of deliberate misinterpretation to achieve the objective of potential communication. Listeners mainly use the uncertainties of language and the ambiguity in conversational implicature to create humorous effect caused by DMI
1 Utilizing the uncertainties of language
Uncertainty （fuzzy） is the basic property of natural language. It would affect the results of expression， and even create the misunderstanding. If making a good use of the uncertainty in language， it can not only avoid the trouble， but also help us to achieve specific communicative effects. This section mainly describes how to create humorous effects by DMI from several linguistic levels： voice， vocabulary， syntax， and discourse level.
1.1 Pronunciation level
In conversation， the same or similar sound may lead to a mistake in hearing. If he really knows what the speaker wants to convey， the hearer deliberately ignores it and create new meaning， it is a process of carrying out DMI.
For example：
Boyfriend： What is your favorite music group？
Girlfriend： “I love U2”
Boyfriend： I love you too， but what is your favorite music group？
In the example， we can see， a sense of humor created by pronunciation is owing to the homophony. “U2” and “ you too” have the same pronunciation， so under this circumstances， maybe the boy has known the answer by the girl’s words， but he wanted to make humorous effect so that he carried out the DMI to make the girl feel happy.
1.2 Vocabulary level
In some context， both of the two meanings of the polysemic word may be suitable for the expression but we have conventional usage， so the misunderstanding is possible to be avoided. However， many people deliberately distort the meaning of the sentence to achieve their special purpose， for example， creating humorous effect.
For example：
（A student goes to school to register）
Teacher： “Parents’ name” Students： “Li Dashan”
Teacher： “Relation with you”
Students： “Not very well. He often slugs me.”
In the context of school register， the teacher asks the student about the relationship with parents obviously refers to ask “Li Dashan” is father or mother， but the student misinterprets the simple relation between parent and child as interpersonal relationship. So the student successfully and humorously expresses his complaint to his father.
1.3 Discourse level
Context is a formed communicative environment when language is used. It can be said that the communicative process is actually the process of constructing contexts. DMI is based on the understanding of each other’s discourse to misinterpret the linguistic knowledge and extra linguistic knowledge.
For example：
Judge： “you stole not only money but also lots of watches， rings and necklaces.”
Defendant： “yes， sir. Because I heard that money alone does not bring happiness.”
From everyday conversational angle， the defendant’s words are no doubt correct， but in this situation， the defendant is in such a language environment， he must use formal language. However， he carries out DMI to distort facts and tries to break away from the crime， but he makes much humorous effect.
2 Utilizing the ambiguity in conversational implicature
The ambiguity in conversational implicature makes a discourse has literal meaning and implied meaning in a certain context. In communication， speakers always express the especial communicative intention to hearers by means of a certain form of language and pragmatic content.
For example：
Husband： “oh， daring， can you tell me what the fly is doing in my soup？”
Wife： “I think it is backstroke.”
According to the basic knowledge， we can get the husband’s real meaning is “：there should be no fly in my soup， the soup cannot be ate.” However， the wife deliberately answers his husband’s question according to the literal meaning——what the fly is doing， and successfully created humorous effect of DMI.
3 Conclusion
From the above， we can see DMI not only can make the language more vivid and lively， rich and colorful， but also can maintain face， reconcile the conflict， break the deadlock， create humorous effect and establish harmonious interpersonal relationship. However， everything has a degree， DMI is also the same. If you use this strategy excessively and casually without considering the application skills and constraints， it will lead to negative effects.
【References】
[1]Vendler. Understading Misunderstading. [M]. Kluwer， Dodreeht-Boston-London，1994.
[2]]Yus， F. Misunderstandings and explicit/implicit communication [J]. Pragmatics，1999（a9）： 487-517.
[3]董黎. 英语幽默集萃[M]. 北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1992.
[4]何自然，申智奇. 刻意曲解的语用研究[J]. 外语教学与研究，2004（3）.
[5]刘艳秋.语用误解与刻意曲解 [J]. 外语研究，2006（l）.
[6]冉永平，张新红. 语用学纵横[M]. 高等教育出版社，2007.