Shuangguan: Linguistic and cultural aspects of the Chinese art of punning [Shuangguan: językowe i kulturowe aspekty chińskiej sztuki posługiwania się kalamburami]
Shuangguan: Linguistic and cultural aspects of the Chinese art of punning [Shuangguan: językowe i kulturowe aspekty chińskiej sztuki posługiwania się kalamburami]

Author(s): Agnieszka Solska
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: puns; shuangguan; ambiguity; homophony; high context culture; face; social harmony
Summary/Abstract: With only 405 distinct syllables, Mandarin Chinese is particularly rich in homophones. Not surprisingly, this peculiarity of the language is exploited in wordplay, which is encountered in all manner of communicative settings, including poetry and prose, cultural symbols, jokes, advertisements and even public service posters and telegram messages. Interestingly, while speakers of English would use the term ‘pun’ to identify most instances of ambiguity-based wordplay, the speakers of Chinese take a much narrower view of what constitutes shuangguan, the term which is typically treated as the equivalent of the English word ‘pun.’ This article examines both more and less prototypical shuangguan, encountered in contexts representative of both high and low culture. It identifies three qualities of the Chinese language which make it particularly well suited for punning wordplay as well as three cultural factors underlying both the partiality Chinese speakers have for the ambiguity-based language play and the ways in which this partiality manifests itself.

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