Insofar as language is a vehicle for the communication of ideas, it is not exclusively verbal: works of art, silent films, aural landscapes and so on are reminders of the huge importance of non-verbal communication. For the purposes of this discussion, however, we shall concentrate exclusively on the language of the spoken and written word.

Language's humorous potential derives principally from its "overtones", that is to say from the information it carries in addition to the fundamental meaning. For example, the phrase "Get thee to a nunnery" carries with it rich overtones of era (by virtue of the use of the construction "get thee to" and "nunnery") and reference (insofar as the reader/listener may be aware of the origin of the phrase in Hamlet).

Such overtones may be broadly categorised in terms of sound and sense.

SOUND PATTERNS

Sound patterns, such as rhythm, rhyme and assonance, facilitate humour in several ways:

• Rhythms and rhymes, for example, are pleasing to the ear. Insofar as they raise one's spirits, they contribute to the sense of happiness that is an essential foundation for humorous response.
• Characters who speak in verse (or are described in verse) usually sound quite unlike those who speak in prose. This difference helps persuade readers/listeners to suspend their disbelief to some extent while enabling the writer to make fanciful characters and situations more credible.
• Sound patterns can create a strong sense of expectation. For example, when listening to rhyming verse, we quickly learn to know when to expect a rhyme and we often anticipate rhyme words. The writer can create the essential comic ingredient of surprise by deliberately thwarting the listener's expectations in an amusing way.
• Complex patterns, notably multisyllabic rhymes or patterns of assonance, often sound funny in themselves, without regard to their meaning. For example, the phrase Jeremy fell upon thieves in the Peloponnese may tell a harrowing story, but it is hard to hear this account without a little smile.

Click here for a further topic sheet analysing the subjects of assonance and rhyme in greater depth .

Note that rhythm, assonance and rhyme are not the only patterns available: think of popular songs such as "A: you're Adorable; B: you're so Beautiful; ...)

WORD PLAY

The ambiguity of language presents a rich source of comic potential. The potential for ambiguity exists at several different levels. For example:

• Many words provide source material for word play by virtue of their multiple meanings (e.g. He was a dark and stormy Knight).
• Some grammatical constructions are open to misunderstanding to humorous effect (e.g. I shot a bear in my pyjamas.)
• Comic confusion may be readily created by using personal pronouns instead of proper names, so that characters think they are discussing the same person when in fact they are not.
• Many idiomatic and metaphorical phrases are open to misinterpretation if taken literally.
• Carefully selected words may be used to build up a picture of a situation in the reader's/listener's mind, only to overthrow it completely with the punch line (e.g. the joke about the pimple and the frog).

Grammar itself can be a source of humour. For example: Headmaster to sixth formers on their last day at school: success is not a matter of who you know; it's whom you know.

A number of rhetorical devices concerned with word play are particularly relevant here. These are as follows:

• anticlimax
  A decline from a noble tone to a less exalted one, often for comic effect.
  "Beethoven’s dead, Goethe’s dead, and I’m not feeling too good myself."
• hyperbole
  An extravagant statement aimed at heightening effect.
  "He’s been working here since God was a boy."
• malapropism
  The replacement of an appropriate word by one with similar sound but inappropriate meaning.
  "He is the very pineapple of politeness."
• polyptoton
  Repetition of words derived from the same root but with different endings.
  "Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."
• simile
  A stated comparison between two fundamentally dissimilar things with some quality or qualities in common.
  "The harpsichord sounds like two skeletons copulating on a corrugated tin roof."

OPPOSITES AND CONTRADICTIONS

There is also significant comic potential to be derived from the deliberate use of opposites and contradictions:

• antiphrasis
  Use of a word in a sense opposite to its conventional meaning.
  "How absolutely ravishing you look in orange and pink polyester!"
• apophasis
  The mention of something in disclaiming intention of mentioning it.
  "Far be it from me to question the motives of the noble lord.'"
• irony
  Use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning.
  "O heavens! died two months ago and not forgotten yet? Then there's hope a great man's memory may outlive his life half a year."
• litotes
  The expression of an affirmative by the negation of its opposite.
  "The grave's a fine and private place,
  But none, I think, do there embrace."