TONGUE-TWISTERS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE INCONGRUITY THEORY IN HUMOR

Abstract

Tongue-twisters play an important role in our daily life. It is considered both as an independent genre and a subgenre of puzzle, fairy tale, lullaby, game and traditional Turkish theatre. There is a great similarity between tongue-twisters and humor. This similarity is based on the fact that using unrelated and contradictory words together provokes laughter and provides a state of amusement. Therefore, it is possible to explain some tongue-twisters with The Incongruity Theory. In this study, examples selected from nursery rhymes, Karagoz (Traditional Turkish shadow play), Orta oyunu (traditional Turkish light comedy), Meddah (public story telling and mimic) and fairy tale nursery rhymes are examined within the framework of the Incongruity Theory.

Keywords

• Humor
• Incongruity
• Theory
• Tongue-twisters