The Comprehension of Jokes consolidates and develops the tradition of analysing jokes, by defining a framework of concepts which are suited to capturing what happens when someone understands a joke. The collection of concepts presented improves upon past work on joke analysis, outlining a simple model of text comprehension which supports all the assumptions necessary for a model of joke-understanding. This proposed framework encompasses and integrates a relatively wide range of disparate factors, including incongruity, superiority, and impropriety. Written by an expert in the field of humour, it provides a conceptual basis which will help to map out the landscape of joke comprehension. The book draws on past suggestions in many areas, primarily philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and artificial intelligence. Current theories of how people understand non-humorous texts offer some important ideas, such as the need for representations of differing beliefs about the world, or the way that predictions may occur during the understanding of a text. The framework improves the clarity and coherence of some existing theoretical proposals and combines these ideas into a well-defined way of describing how a person understands a newly-encountered joke. All this is illustrated using typical textual jokes, some analysed in considerable detail. The book enables hypotheses about why jokes are funny to be stated more precisely and compared more easily, and should contribute to the development of a fuller cognitive model of joke comprehension. The Comprehension of Jokes will be of great interest to academics and postgraduate students in humour research, as well as those in disciplines like linguistics, psychology, and cognitive science who wish to explore the field of jokes and humour.

The Comprehension of Jokes consolidates and develops the tradition of analysing jokes, by defining a framework of concepts which are suited to capturing what happens when someone understands a joke. The collection of concepts presented improves upon past work on joke analysis, outlining a simple model of text comprehension which supports all the assumptions necessary for a model of joke-understanding. This proposed framework encompasses and integrates a relatively wide range of disparate factors, including incongruity, superiority, and impropriety. Written by an expert in the field of humour, it provides a conceptual basis which will help to map out the landscape of joke comprehension. The book draws on past suggestions in many areas, primarily philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and artificial intelligence. Current theories of how people understand non-humorous texts offer some important ideas, such as the need for representations of differing beliefs about the world, or the way that predictions may occur during the understanding of a text. The framework improves the clarity and coherence of some existing theoretical proposals and combines these ideas into a well-defined way of describing how a person understands a newly-encountered joke. All this is illustrated using typical textual jokes, some analysed in considerable detail. The book enables hypotheses about why jokes are funny to be stated more precisely and compared more easily, and should contribute to the development of a fuller cognitive model of joke comprehension. The Comprehension of Jokes will be of great interest to academics and postgraduate students in humour research, as well as those in disciplines like linguistics, psychology, and cognitive science who wish to explore the field of jokes and humour.

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Assumptions and Methodology
3. Linguistic preliminaries
4. Incongruity and its Resolution
5. Two Models of Incongruity-Resolution
6. The General Theory of Verbal Humour
7. Joke Similarity and Identity
8. Manipulating Interpretations
9. The Structure of Puns
10. Some Computational Studies
11. Pragmatic and Discourse Issues
12. Speculations on Joke Structure
13. Future Directions

This book starts from three observations. First, the use of humour is a complex, puzzling, and idiosyncratically human form of behaviour (and hence is of scientific interest). Second, there is currently no theory of how humour works. Third, one useful step towards a theory of humour is to analyze humorous items in precise detail, in order to understand their mechanisms.
The author begins by considering how to study jokes rigorously: the assumptions to make, the guidelines to follow and the pitfalls to avoid. A critique of other work on humour is also provided. This introduces some important concepts, and also demonstrates the lack of agreement about what a theory of humour should look like. The language devices used in various jokes, such as puns or humour based on misinterpretation, are analysed in detail. The central part of the book develops, and demonstrates, proposals for how best to analyze the workings of simple jokes. Finally, the author makes some general suggestions about the language devices that seem to be central to the construction of jokes.
The Linguistic Analysis of Jokes will be invaluable for researchers and advanced students of humour research, linguistics and cognitive science.

Originally published in 1922, this book contains a series of passages in English intended for translation into French. The text was created as an additional tool for teachers who had worked through the translation passages in Cambridge's Manual of French Composition. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the French language, translation and the history of education.

Originally published in 1928, this book was written to provide a guide to the translation of French into English, from beginner's level up to the standard of the School Certificate Examination. Numerous exercises are included, together with vocabularies and notes. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the development of French teaching, the process of translation and the history of education.

Originally published in 1941, this book provides a guide to French composition aimed at university students and the higher classes in schools. The text contains various passages for translation, with the level of difficulty indicated, and examples of model translations. Information is also presented on the key aspects of composition, including descriptive vocabulary, homonyms and synonyms, grammar, and style. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the French language, the process of composition and the history of education.

Originally published in 1921, this book contains annotated passages taken from A Manual of French Composition. The annotations provide comprehensive guidance on aspects of grammar and vocabulary. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the French language and the history of education.

First published in 1928, as the second edition of a 1926 original, this book was written to provide students and teachers with an elementary textbook on French composition. It was intended to lead students from the beginnings of French composition up to the standard of the School Certificate Examinations. Passages for translation and a vocabulary section are included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the French language and the history of education.

Originally published in 1941, this book contains a series of passages in French gathered together to provide material for students practising English translation. The passages cover a wide range of subject matter and are of varying difficulty. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the French language, the history of education and translation studies.