Das Phänomen auf der Zunge. Zu Spezifik und Humorindikatoren der Zungenbrecher

Abstract

Tongue-twisters, extremely strange structures, are examples of linguistic acrobatics and creative play with the language. Although they incorporate many comical forms and ideas and are characterized by structural diversity, they rarely become the subject of linguistic research. Many of them are based on repetitions of similarly sounding words or phrases; some are almost meaningless, which, however, does not distort their function but highlights their specificity. For these reasons, among others, the aim of the article is to show and discuss characteristic features of tongue-twisters, methods of creating them and mechanisms for generating comical effects. Tongue-twisters are examined in terms of their formal features (morphology and syntax) and semantic properties (puns, modifications, irony, unexpected content, etc.). The analysis confirms that there are no limits to their flexibility and creative potential. It identifies a wide range of possibilities for their construction and points out their inherent humour indicators even if many tongue-twisters resemble flat jokes.

Keywords

• tongue-twisters
• humour