English Joke and its Phonetic Characteristics

This research work centres on the English joke as a speech genre and the phonetic means used to achieve the humorous effect. The aim of this work is to study the phonetic means used by the English people in humorous discourse. This paper studies the concept of a joke, its communicative purpose and main features. It underlines that the language and culture are closely interrelated, influence each other, and accentuates the national peculiarities of English humour. This paper regards the traditions of English humour, its linguacultural peculiarities, and historical and social factors which influenced its formation. Besides, this paper touches upon the problems that foreigners face while trying to understand English jokes. It is also stated what types of humour the English use, what they usually laugh at and what the structure of a typical English joke is. The video materials chosen for the analysis include ten jokes told by a native English speaker. The analysis has shown that when studying such a complicated phenomenon as a joke it is necessary to take into consideration not only the language peculiarities, but also the extralinguistic context. The analysis has also proven that the phonetic means used in English jokes play an essential role in creating the humorous effect. That is why it is so important to study them.