TY - GEN A1 - Chen, Li-Chi A1 - Sroka-Grądziel, Anna A1 - Lee, Fu-Lan A1 - Hajndrych, Eryk PB - Instytut Języka Polskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk N2 - Building on Bergson’s ([1911] 2014) account of laughter, as well as two recognized functions of Chinese humor – 寓教於樂 ‘wrapping instructions in entertainment/amusement’ (Liao 2001) and 會心微笑 ‘a hearty laugh or a knowing smile’ (Chen 2017) – this study intends to analyze the wit and humor found in Chinese characters from a socio-cultural and historical perspective. The data used in this analysis come from internet resources and books, as well as from the authors’ linguistic repertoire. We have observed six sources of humor in Chinese characters. These are: (a) the visual form of a Chinese character; (b) decomposing a Chinese character; (c) Chinese ligatures; (d) Chinese homophonic puns; (e) misreading of similar Chinese characters; and (f) the borrowing of Japanese kanji. Our findings suggest that funny Chinese characters should contain human behavioral attributes and wrapped instructions and will evoke a hearty laugh or knowing smile from the in-group members of a Chinese-speaking community. L1 - http://www.rcin.org.pl/Content/232962/PDF/266-Tekst%20artyku%C5%82u-1455-1-10-20211230.pdf M3 - Text VL - 35 CY - Kraków PY - 2021 EP - 54 KW - Chinese characters KW - Chinese ligatures KW - homophonic puns KW - human behavior KW - humor T1 - Wit and Humor in Chinese Characters - A Socio-Cultural and Historical Perspective SP - 41 UR - http://www.rcin.org.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/232962 ER -