CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURE IN ANECDOTES: PRAGMATIC MECHANISMS OF HUMOR AND HIDDEN MEANING

Abstract

This study examines humor in anecdotal texts from a pragmatic perspective, focusing on conversational implicature and communicative intention. Based on Grice’s theory, the research shows that humor arises from the gap between what is said and what is meant through the violation of conversational maxims. The analysis demonstrates that anecdotes function as pragmatic texts where humor is produced by expectation failure, inferential shift, and cognitive incongruity. The study concludes that laughter is not the essence of humor, but its possible result.