Incongruity-resolution cases in jokes

- A taxonomy of incongruity-resolution Cases in humorous communication is proposed within a relevance-theoretic framework.
- The taxonomy is based on the types of incongruity, location of the incongruity-triggering element, and the kind of resolution needed to derive humorous effects.
- A corpus of 500 jokes is analyzed and ascribed to possible Cases in the taxonomy.
- A number of conclusions are drawn from the quality and quantity of jokes per Case.

The incongruity-resolution model is one of the most popular theories that propose an explanation for the strategies underlying humorous texts. In this paper, a taxonomy of incongruity-resolution Cases is proposed according to a relevance-theoretic stance. Then, the extent to which these Cases are exhaustive enough to cover the whole range of possible incongruity-resolution patterns is checked with a corpus of jokes. Furthermore, an analysis is carried out concerning the implications of matching certain kinds of jokes with specific Cases of the taxonomy. Some conclusions on their pragmatic quality and their overall humorous effects are also drawn.