KNOCK-KNOCK JOKES, PROPER NAMES, AND REFERENTIALITY
KNOCK-KNOCK JOKES, PROPER NAMES, AND REFERENTIALITY

Summary/Abstract: This paper proposes a pragmatic and semantic study of the English knockknock jokes, paying particular attention to the dimension of reference, in general, and the use of proper names, in particular, which are described from the viewpoint of discourse analysis and psycholinguistics. The article aims at underlining the twofold discursive function (i.e., identifying and diverging) that names fulfil in this variety of humorous texts. In the end, the study also tries to show how this pattern of English jokes has recently been adapted to Romanian.

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