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References

Bonk, C., Graham, C., 2006. Handbook of Blended Learning: Global Perspectives, Local Designs. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

Graddol, D., 1994. What is a text? In: Graddol, D., Boyd-Barrett, O. (Eds.), Media Texts: Authors and Readers. Clevedon, Multilingual Matters,

Clevedon, pp. 40e50.

Laurillard, D., 2009. The pedagogical challenges to collaborative technologies. International Journal of Computer e Supported Collaborative

Learning 4 (1), 5e20.

Motteram, G., Sharma, P., 2009. Blending learning in a web 2.0 world. International Journal of Emerging Technologies & Society 7 (2),

83e96.

Peter SaundersLanguage Centre, University of Oxford, 12 Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HT, United Kingdom

E-mail address: peter.saunders@lang.ox.ac.uk

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2012.10.005

Understanding Language through Humor, Stanley Dubinsky, Chris Holcomb. Cambridge University Press, New York(2011). ix þ 202 pp.

Stanley Dubinsky and Chris Holcomb’s knowledge of linguistics and their experience in using humour whenteaching linguistics concepts has led them to devise this project, where the cartoons, comic strips and jokes, most ofthem taken from popular publications, are not mere illustrations but are at the heart of their explanations and argu-ments. Although the work is organised like a traditional linguistics textbook, the authors rightly suggest that it shouldbe considered more as a supplement than as a textbook.

The book is divided into twelve chapters plus a notes section, a glossary and an index. In Chapter 1, which serves asIntroduction, the authors make use of a real story to display their intentions. Thus, readers are presented with the caseof a practical joke which reached the news when a waitress sued her ex-employer for not keeping his word after havingpromised a new Toyota to the employee who sold most beer. When she was declared the winner of the competition,instead of a Toyota she was given a toy Yoda, a doll of the character Yoda from the Star Wars movies and the ex-bosssaid that it was just a practical joke. Yet, the waitress won the case and got her Toyota. The authors explain that the factthat both ‘Toyota’ and ‘toy Yoda’ are practically homonyms, as they sound almost identical, together with the fact thateach could have been given as a prize can explain the alleged misunderstanding and the joke. They state that theirintention is not to focus on humour, but to use humour as a key to linguistics. They also claim that their work isaddressed to a broad range of readers including those who are familiar with linguistics and those who are not, sinceconcepts are presented in a non-technical fashion. I can agree with the first statement but not with the second, as thebook is full of the technical terms present in traditional linguistic textbooks. Though they might limit the scope of theintended audience, the presence of these terms does not seem to me to be a weakness in the book.

In Chapter 2, readers are introduced to the concept of communication and the elements that integrate communi-cation systems. The authors focus on the differences between communication and language, which is exclusivelyhuman. As an example of the excessive qualities that we often attribute animals, they offer the following dialogue ata zoo: “Have you got any talking parrots? No, but we’ve got a woodpecker that knows Morse code” (p. 21).

Chapter 3 provides an analysis of the sounds of human language both from the phonetic and phonologicalperspective. They consider letters and sounds, phonetics and phonemics, word boundaries and word plays such asSpoonerisms (the switching letters or morphemes), providing the well-worn example which Spooner himself issupposed to have used when addressing Queen Victoria: “Three cheers for our queer old dean” (p. 36).

In Chapter 4, morphemes and words are examined, through a survey of derivation, compounds, clipping, idioms,reduplication, homophones and homographs or word coinage. Just to illustrate the existence of morphologicalhumour, I shall mention an example of the last, the so-called ‘Bushisms’ or unintentional creation of new words byPresident George W. Bush as when he is said to have used ‘vulcanize’ instead of ‘Balkanize’ (p. 53).

574 Book reviews / System 40 (2012) 565e574

Chapter 5 opens with a strip from a Dilbert cartoon. With the aim of convincing PHB, the company boss, toadvertise in his new magazine, Dogbert tells him: “we have between one and two billion readers”. In the next panelDogbert explains to Dilbert: “I figured the way to make three readers sound like a lot” (p. 55). The structural ambiguityof the noun phrase enables the authors to introduce a chapter which explores phrases and sentences, their internalstructure, and the way meaning may be influenced by this structure.

Chapter 6 deals with what speakers do with language and the ways they use it. It focuses on sentences in context,discussing such concepts as deixis, indirectness, speech acts, performatives, principles of conversational cooperationand presuppositions. The violation of the quantity maxim, one of Grice’s four Cooperative Principles, is exemplified bythe following joke: “When is the best time for shopping? When the shops are open” (p. 92). Chapter 7 also deals withlanguage use but at the level of discourse, thus concepts such as structure, context, channels and genres are analysed.

Chapter 8 addresses children’s acquisition of language. It focuses on their phonological, semantic and syntacticdevelopment. The reader is presented with many instances of children’s amusing language such as Dolly’s semanticconfusion in the cartoon strip Family Circus when she says: “Mommy, my socks don’t agree with each other” (p.124).The authors also analyse caregiver speech and the influence of environmental factors on children’s languageacquisition.

Chapter 9 is devoted to language varieties based on differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, syntax, and prag-matics and how groups of speakers belonging to specific regions, social classes, cultures, professions may share thesefeatures. A delightful example of the excesses of professional jargon is provided by the authors when they mention thecase of a primary school teacher who asked for ‘behavior modification reinforcers’ meaning ‘lollipops’ (p. 142).Chapter 10 analyses cultural varieties further, highlighting how differences in pronunciation, word choice, grammarand language use sometimes lead to miscommunication when those belonging to different cultures use the samelanguage to communicate. Misunderstandings caused by pronunciation are exemplified with the case of a French manwho called room service asking for ‘pepper’. When he was asked if he wanted ‘black or white’, he replied that hewanted ‘toilet pepper’ (p. 155).

Chapter 11 is introduced by a Michael Maslim cartoon where a police officer’s zealousness appears to includelanguage standardisation. After stopping a van driver with a sign ‘Me and Wallys Produce’, he informs him: “I’mgoing to have to issue you a summons for reckless grammar and driving without an apostrophe” (p. 166). This chapterdistinguishes between soft language enforcement, through standardization, and hard language enforcement, throughimplementation of certain policies. The authors proceed to discuss the nature of humour and how it may be a tool toavoid the constraints regulating the use of language.

In Chapter 12, which serves as conclusion, the main idea in the book, that of using humour to explain linguisticconcepts, is briefly reviewed through a new episode of the ‘Toyota’/‘toy Yoda’ affair, as we are told that KeithA. Rowley, a law professor, who examined the case in depth, also played with language sounds and the Star Warscontext when in his legal discussion he wrote: “If you are going to use the farce, beware of the dark side” (p. 184). Thisnew reference to the case ends the book with a smile, the same way as they started it. They also helpfully providesuggestions for further reading in print and on the Internet.

Understanding Language through Humor is a concise, well-written contribution to the field of linguistics froma different perspective, which is not just amusing but also works in clarifying concepts which would otherwise be lessaccessible to some readers. Although the authors do not mention it, I have often recalled Horace’s saying, “Ridentemdicere verum: quid vetat?” (What prevents me from speaking the truth with a smile?), as they have not only shown thathumour may help us understand linguistics better but that it is also a useful instrument for speaking the truth.

Victoria ZenotzDepartment of Philology and Language Didactics, Public University of Navarre,

Arrosadiko Kanpusa/Campus Arrosadıa, 31006 Irunea/Pamplona, SpainE-mail address: vicky.zenotz@unavarra.es

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2012.10.008