VERBAL IRONY AND HUMOR IN HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, SEASON 9 =

Abstract

ABSTRACT Humor plays an essential role in human life, especially in communication. Researchers study about humor on a wide range of topic, ranging from psychology, sociology, and linguistics. In the linguistics field, there have been many theories developed on the origin and the classification of humor. One type of humor is irony, which receive a considerable amount of attention from researchers. This study is an attempt to apply available theories into practice by analysing humorous ironic language of the characters. The study aims at analysing the way script writers use language to make their audiences laugh. The analysis of utterances by characters in the sitcom series How I Met Your Mother indicated four types of irony. In addition, the act of flouting conversational maxims by the characters in the series has led to the incongruity in the utterance, which helps explain the process of humor generation by verbal irony. Key word: verbal irony, humor, How I Met Your Mother, film analysis, pragmatics