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Scripts in the Ontological Semantic Theory of Humor

  • Julia Taylor Rayz
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Script-Based Semantics
This chapter is in the book Script-Based Semantics

Abstract

The Ontological Semantic Theory of Humor (OSTH) is the latest development in the script-based humor families. The first theory, Script-based Semantic Theory of Humor (SSTH) introduced scripts and proposed that a text contains a joke if there are two scripts in the text that overlap and opposed. The second theory, the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH), added five knowledge resources to the SSTH, namely Logical Mechanism, Situation, Target, Narrative Strategy, and Language. The Script Overlap/Oppositeness was left from the SSTH as the coarsest grain knowledge resource. Neither the SSTH nor the GTVH relies on computational implementation, and the knowledge resources, including scripts are often selected based on the intuition of the annotating expert. The OSTH does not introduce any novelty in terms of humor processing, but provides a foundation for processing text of a joke in a more consistent manner. This paper uses the OSTH to analyze some examples introduced by Raskin. The paper shows why different levels of scripts can still be considered the same, and what methods can be used to streamline the annotations of the scripts.

Abstract

The Ontological Semantic Theory of Humor (OSTH) is the latest development in the script-based humor families. The first theory, Script-based Semantic Theory of Humor (SSTH) introduced scripts and proposed that a text contains a joke if there are two scripts in the text that overlap and opposed. The second theory, the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH), added five knowledge resources to the SSTH, namely Logical Mechanism, Situation, Target, Narrative Strategy, and Language. The Script Overlap/Oppositeness was left from the SSTH as the coarsest grain knowledge resource. Neither the SSTH nor the GTVH relies on computational implementation, and the knowledge resources, including scripts are often selected based on the intuition of the annotating expert. The OSTH does not introduce any novelty in terms of humor processing, but provides a foundation for processing text of a joke in a more consistent manner. This paper uses the OSTH to analyze some examples introduced by Raskin. The paper shows why different levels of scripts can still be considered the same, and what methods can be used to streamline the annotations of the scripts.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1: Script-based semantics
  6. Scripts, frames, and other semantic objects 11
  7. Script-based approach towards taxis connectors 43
  8. Ontological and grammatical constraints on metaphor productivity 55
  9. Meaning amalgamation, phrasal stress, and earning money 77
  10. Part 2: Humor
  11. Knowledge about humor 93
  12. Domains of humor: Challenges from psychology 115
  13. Victor Raskin’s overlooked analysis of political jokes 139
  14. Joke construction and joke structure 167
  15. ‘Stop kidding, I’m serious’: Failed humor in French conversations 191
  16. Part 3: Ontological semantics
  17. Scripts in the Ontological Semantic Theory of Humor 229
  18. Which fuzzy logic operations are most appropriate for ontological semantics: Theoretical explanation of empirical observations 257
  19. Decoding intricacies of human nature from social network communications 269
  20. Part 4: Other applications
  21. A creative approach for linguistic funny business: Using linguistic paradigms and taxonomies 281
  22. Tourism after the Arab Spring in Tunisia: An analysis of advertising campaigns 305
  23. Names Index 315
  24. Subject Index 321
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501511707-011

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part 1: Script-based semantics
  6. Scripts, frames, and other semantic objects 11
  7. Script-based approach towards taxis connectors 43
  8. Ontological and grammatical constraints on metaphor productivity 55
  9. Meaning amalgamation, phrasal stress, and earning money 77
  10. Part 2: Humor
  11. Knowledge about humor 93
  12. Domains of humor: Challenges from psychology 115
  13. Victor Raskin’s overlooked analysis of political jokes 139
  14. Joke construction and joke structure 167
  15. ‘Stop kidding, I’m serious’: Failed humor in French conversations 191
  16. Part 3: Ontological semantics
  17. Scripts in the Ontological Semantic Theory of Humor 229
  18. Which fuzzy logic operations are most appropriate for ontological semantics: Theoretical explanation of empirical observations 257
  19. Decoding intricacies of human nature from social network communications 269
  20. Part 4: Other applications
  21. A creative approach for linguistic funny business: Using linguistic paradigms and taxonomies 281
  22. Tourism after the Arab Spring in Tunisia: An analysis of advertising campaigns 305
  23. Names Index 315
  24. Subject Index 321
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