英语双关言意关系的认知解读

Cognitive Interpretation of English Puns

英语双关可分为语音双关和语义双关两类。在关联理论框架下,着重探讨英语双关的认知解读机制,认为:认知语境在双关"显"、"隐"意义的甄别中起促进和引导作用;双关"显"、"隐"意义的确定受制于意义的关联性。英语双关的理解是一个分两步、第二步经历"显"、"隐"双重解读的序列认知过程。

English puns can be classified into two categories： phonetic puns and semantic puns.Drawing on the relevance theory,the paper here mainly aims to probe into the cognitive mechanism for interpreting English puns.It argues that Cognitive contexts facilitate and guide the determination of the overt meaning and the covert meaning of an English pun,and relevance plays a decisive role in deciding whether an activated meaning is overt or covert.The interpretation of English puns is a two-step sequential procedure in which the second step involves a process of the interpretation of both overt meaning and covert meaning.