Prosodic and multimodal markers of humor in conversation

Abstract

This case study extends the findings of Pickering et al. 2009 to the domain of conversational humor. We find that, as was the case in humorous narratives, conversational humor is not marked by higher pitch or volume, increased speech rate, or significant pauses. Unlike narrative humor, conversational humor is not produced at a lower pitch and slower rate than non-humorous parts of the text. We find that smiling and laughter tend to occur with humor.

Humour production in face-to-face interaction: a multimodal and cognitive study

“…Research has also taken an interest in studying how ─or if─ humour is multimodally marked (Pickering et al, 2009;Attardo, Pickering, & Baker, 2011;Attardo, Pickering, Lomotey, & Menjo, 2013;etc. ).…”

“…In addition, research has focused on establishing whether multimodal cues co-occurring with humour can be considered as markers. That is, if they help to predict humour, or if they are simply used as metamessages as in other forms of non-humorous communication (Attardo, Pickering, & Baker, 2011).…”

“…Many studies have been conducted on the markers of irony or sarcasm, with conflicting results (Rockwell, 2000;Attardo, Eisterhold, Hay, & Poggi, 2003;Bryant, 2010;Attardo, Pickering, & Baker, 2011;Attardo, Wagner, & Urios-Aparisi, 2011;Tabacaru, 2014, etc.). Less attention, though, has been devoted to non-ironical humour.…”

“…Less attention, though, has been devoted to non-ironical humour. Furthermore, most of the literature is limited to staged humour, with just a handful of studies focusing on spontaneous humour (Archakis & Tsakona, 2005;Attardo, Pickering, & Baker, 2011;Feyaerts, 2013, etc. ).…”

“…The chapter includes a detailed review of multimodal studies of humour, listing findings on the prosody of irony, sarcasm, and humour (Haiman, 1998;Rockwell, 2000;Attardo et al, 2003;Cheang & Pell, 2009;Bryant, 2010, etc. ), along with other multimodal cues in humorous communication (Attardo et al, 2003;Attardo, Pickering, & Baker, 2011;Tabacaru, 2014;Tabacaru & Lemmens, 2014;etc. ).…”