Oppositions, overlaps, and ontologies: The general theory of verbal humor revisited

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliott Oring
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Script Theory ◽  
Ontological Semantics ◽  
Humor Theory ◽  
Humor Studies ◽  
Language Input

Abstract The General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH) has dominated the discussion of humor theory for the last quarter of a century. It generated a great deal of interest in humor studies by scholars both within and outside the discipline of linguistics. Problems are resident in GTVH, however, which have been inherited from its predecessor the Semantic Script Theory of Humor (SSTH). Script Opposition and Script Overlap are not adequately defined, nor are they sufficient for the identification of a joke-carrying text. The resource of the Logical Mechanism posited by GTVH may have complicated rather than simplified the matter as the list of proposed mechanisms are too loosely defined and woefully incomplete. The Ontological Semantics Theory of Humor (OSTH) has promised to demonstrate the adequacy of the linguistic theories of humor by the ability of computers to process natural language input to discriminate between joke-carrying and non-joke-carrying texts. That promise, also decades old, remains to be fulfilled, and it is questionable whether it can be fulfilled if based on SSTH and GTVH platforms.

Humor in Language

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvatore Attardo
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Script Theory ◽  
Multimodal Data ◽  
Group Solidarity

Interest in the linguistics of humor is widespread and dates since classical times. Several theoretical models have been proposed to describe and explain the function of humor in language. The most widely adopted one, the semantic-script theory of humor, was presented by Victor Raskin, in 1985. Its expansion, to incorporate a broader gamut of information, is known as the General Theory of Verbal Humor. Other approaches are emerging, especially in cognitive and corpus linguistics. Within applied linguistics, the predominant approach is analysis of conversation and discourse, with a focus on the disparate functions of humor in conversation. Speakers may use humor pro-socially, to build in-group solidarity, or anti-socially, to exclude and denigrate the targets of the humor. Most of the research has focused on how humor is co-constructed and used among friends, and how speakers support it. Increasingly, corpus-supported research is beginning to reshape the field, introducing quantitative concerns, as well as multimodal data and analyses. Overall, the linguistics of humor is a dynamic and rapidly changing field.

Psychological Assessment Using Simulations with Unrestricted Natural Language Input

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Anbar ◽  
Michael Raulin
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Psychological Assessment ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
Psychological Behavior ◽  
Language Input ◽  
Psychological Dimensions

Five computerized role-playing scenarios, which accept unrestricted natural language input, were developed and administered to seventy-two freshman medical students. The scenarios, written in CASIP, measured and automatically scored each response on five psychological dimensions: Social skills, level of frustration, submissiveness, combativeness, and negotiative ability. The programmed scenarios also monitored nonverbal dimensions, which may reflect the emotional state of the testee. These included: The time it took to start an answer; the time spent reviewing the answer; the lengths of answers and of the words used. The testees behaved significantly different in handling the different role-playing scenarios. While no significant correlations were found between the psychological dimensions expressed in the different scenarios, the tests identified individual testees who displayed a pattern of extremes of psychological behavior.

Liana

1975 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
I. Batoni ◽  
R. Henning ◽  
H. Lehmann ◽  
B. Schirmer ◽  
M. Zoeppritz
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Question Answering ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Tree Structure ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Syntactic Analysis ◽  
Question Answering System ◽  
Continuous Text ◽  
Language Input

Abstract LIANA is a question answering system in PL/1. The program takes German natural language input and, by morphological, syntactic and semantic analysis, creates a representation of the text, which is stored and can be accessed for retrieval purposes. All individuals (objects) mentioned in the sentence are found and stored. In continuous text, therefore, information about individuals can be piled up successively. LIANA uses the programming concept of the Boston Syntax Analyzer. Therefore, the output of syntactic analysis is a tree structure, simulated through pointers which connect the nodes in the tree. Each node is associated with a feature table which is operated on by the semantic interpretation. Node and feature handling is facilitated by a set of macros for adding, erasing, and checking features and copying, deleting, and inserting nodes.

Natural Language Input for Fuzzy Diagnosis

Fuzzy Control ◽  
2000 ◽  
pp. 265-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norihide Sano ◽  
Ryoichi Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Language Input ◽  
Fuzzy Diagnosis

The semantics of humor

2020 ◽  
pp. 113-135
Author(s):  
Salvatore Attardo
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Theory ◽  
Script Theory ◽  
Ontological Semantics ◽  
Bona Fide ◽  
Pragmatic Aspects ◽  
Word Senses

This chapter opens the second part of the book on humor competence (chapters 6-9). This chapter introduces Raskin’s semantic theory of humor competence based on scripts (Semantic-Script Theory of Humor, SSTH). The concept of script (or frame) is introduced. Dynamic scripts (i.e., scripts that are updated with new informatiom) are described as well as the mechanics of combinations of word senses and disambiguation. The two conditions for a text to be a joke are described: 1) two scripts must be opposite, and 2) they must overlap fully or in part, i.e., be compatible with (parts of) the text. The pragmatic aspects of the SSTH are also discussed, with the idea of non-bona-fide communication, i.e., communication not entirely focused on cooperative (in the Gricean sense) communication. Finally, the recent development of Ontological semantics and its application to humor is discussed.

scholarly journals Conversational agents in healthcare: a systematic review

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 1248-1258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana Laranjo ◽  
Adam G Dunn ◽  
Huong Ly Tong ◽  
Ahmet Baki Kocaballi ◽  
Jessica Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Conversational Agent ◽  
Conversational Agents ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Evaluation Measures ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Language Input

Abstract Objective Our objective was to review the characteristics, current applications, and evaluation measures of conversational agents with unconstrained natural language input capabilities used for health-related purposes. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and ACM Digital using a predefined search strategy. Studies were included if they focused on consumers or healthcare professionals; involved a conversational agent using any unconstrained natural language input; and reported evaluation measures resulting from user interaction with the system. Studies were screened by independent reviewers and Cohen’s kappa measured inter-coder agreement. Results The database search retrieved 1513 citations; 17 articles (14 different conversational agents) met the inclusion criteria. Dialogue management strategies were mostly finite-state and frame-based (6 and 7 conversational agents, respectively); agent-based strategies were present in one type of system. Two studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 1 was cross-sectional, and the remaining were quasi-experimental. Half of the conversational agents supported consumers with health tasks such as self-care. The only RCT evaluating the efficacy of a conversational agent found a significant effect in reducing depression symptoms (effect size d = 0.44, p = .04). Patient safety was rarely evaluated in the included studies. Conclusions The use of conversational agents with unconstrained natural language input capabilities for health-related purposes is an emerging field of research, where the few published studies were mainly quasi-experimental, and rarely evaluated efficacy or safety. Future studies would benefit from more robust experimental designs and standardized reporting. Protocol Registration The protocol for this systematic review is registered at PROSPERO with the number CRD42017065917.

scholarly journals Accounting for Context in Markup: Which Situation, Whose Semantics?

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen M. Wickett
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Natural Language ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Situation Semantics ◽  
Theory Of Meaning ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Full Analysis ◽  
The Right ◽  
Distinct Features

Situation semantics - as developed by Barwise and Perry - is a general theory of meaning for natural language, and can be used to understand the role of context in markup semantics. While the notion of a discourse situation provides many of the right hooks for accounting for contextual assignment of meaning to markup structures, there are still many open questions. One critical issue is that situation semantics itself is open enough to allow many different approaches to identifying the relevant discourse situation. Three core types of discourse situations for descriptive markup - documentary, transport, and discovery - lead to distinct features in the discourse situations connected to those scenarios. Beyond developing a fuller picture of the discourse situations that shape the meaning of markup, this exercise lays groundwork for the full analysis of the assignment of meaning to metadata records.

Incongruity in humor: Root cause or epiphenomenon?

2004 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Veale
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Good Effect ◽  
Script Theory ◽  
Root Cause ◽  
Violation Of Expectation

AbstractHumor and incongruity appear to be constant bedfellows, for at the heart of every joke one can point to some degree of absurdity, illogicality, or violation of expectation. This observation has lead many theories of humor to base themselves around some notion of incongruity or opposition, most notably the semantic-script theory (or SSTH) of Raskin and the subsequent general theory (or GTVH) of Attardo and Raskin. But correlation does not imply causality (a reality used to good effect in many successful examples of humor), and one should question whether incongruity serves a causal role in the workings and appreciation of humor or merely an epiphenomenal one. It remains a key question for humor researchers as to whether listeners react to incongruities by constructing humorous interpretations, or whether they collaboratively create these incongruities as a result of opportunistically constructing humorous interpretations.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document