Modelling the complexity of humour - Insights from linguistics

This article suggests two ways of raising the complexity of the description of humour. The first one is a complex analysis of humour phenomena based on central humour theories, which uses the wealth of models and categories already in existence in linguistic disciplines. The second way is the integration of aspects covered by different theories of humour in a complex model of communication, where some connections between theories may be systematic. In this article, it is seen as a central task of linguistics to provide other disciplines involved in humour research with the detailed insights that linguistic analysis can offer.