英语中的幽默手法Tom Swifties初论

Tentative Study on Tom Swifties

英语中有一种类似汉语歇后语、能表达双关和幽默的语言形式:Tom Swifties。它的语义建构机制与汉语歇后语有很多相似之处,都采用谐音法、语义双关法、拆字法以及典故法等基本语义建构模式。由于它和汉语歇后语有很多相似之处,所以可以将其翻译为"英式歇后语"。对Tom Swifties语义建构机制的研究可以让我们更好地理解英语的这种幽默手法。

Tom Swifiies is a type of linguistic form in English which is similar with Enigmatic Folk Similes in Chinese in that both of them contain pun and convey humor. Both Tom Swifties and Enigmatic Folk Similes employ homophony, polysemy, morphological means, anecdotes or events to create pun and implicature. The study of the mechanism of implicature-formation of Tom Swifties can facilitate the understanding of this device of humor in English.