A PHONO-PRAGMATIC STUDY OF SELECTED AMERICAN AND BRITISH STAND-UP COMEDIES
سفيان مهدي حمود, نسائم مهدي
كلية التربية للعلوم الإنسانية-جامعة بابل · العراق
The present study investigates how phonopragmatic elements are employed in the context of American and British stand-up comedies through a phonopragmatic approach based on phonological and pragmatic theories, to examine the consideration of personal experience and its role in audience laughter. Stand-up comedy was particularly selected because it has not been given adequate attention by researchers, precisely from a phonopragmatic point of view, as far as the researcher knows. Hence, this knowledge gap needs to be bridged by phonopragmatically examining stand-up comedies in American and British contexts. This study, thus, attempts to achieve the following aims: Explicating the dominant and less dominant oral narrative elements within American and British stand-up comedies. Examining the types of frequency, intensity, and speech rate that are manipulated by American and British comedians to make the audience laugh in stand-up comedies. Identifying the illocutionary acts that are frequently employed in American and British stand-up comedies and explaining why. Investigating the similarities and differences between American and British comedians in their employment of the phonopragmatic elements. In line with its aims, this study hypothesizes that: Abstract and coda are the less dominant elements within American and British stand-up comedies. High frequency, high intensity, and slow speech rate are manipulated by American and British comedians to make the audience laugh in stand-up comedies. Representative illocutionary acts are frequently employed in American and British stand-up comedies to present the implied moral lessons behind the comedies. There are distinguishable differences and similarities between American and British comedians in their employment of the phonopragmatic elements. To achieve its aims, the present study follows certain steps: Providing an overview of all the significant concepts linked to stand-up comedies from a phonopragmatic perspective. Selecting relevant data from well-known American and British stand-up comedies from videos accessible on the website www.youtube.com . Conducting an acoustic analysis of the comedies through the software program PRAAT. Discussing the results of the phonopragmatic and statistical analyses to arrive at certain conclusions. The present study concludes that the abstract and coda are the least dominant oral narrative elements within American and British stand-up comedies. In addition, American and British comedians use high frequency and high intensity in their performances. Moreover, they show a preference for the use of representative illocutionary acts to affect the audience and load their messages with the appropriate illocutionary force for delivering the implied moral lessons behind the comedies.