| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| 摘要 | 第5-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-9页 |
| Chapter Ⅰ Introduction | 第9-10页 |
| Chapter Ⅱ Theoretical Framework | 第10-18页 |
| ·Style and Stylistics | 第10-12页 |
| ·Style | 第10页 |
| ·Stylistics | 第10-12页 |
| ·Major levels of stylistic analysis | 第12-15页 |
| ·Phonological level of linguistic description | 第12页 |
| ·Graphological level of linguistic description | 第12-14页 |
| ·Lexical level of linguistic description | 第14页 |
| ·Syntactic level of linguistic description | 第14-15页 |
| ·Pragmatic theories related to the research | 第15-18页 |
| ·Speech Act Theory developed by J. L. Austin | 第15-16页 |
| ·Cooperative Principle developed by Paul Grice | 第16-18页 |
| Chapter Ⅲ Review on American sitcoms | 第18-26页 |
| ·A general feature of sitcoms | 第18页 |
| ·A history of American sitcoms | 第18-22页 |
| ·An overview of the sitcom How I Met Your Mother | 第22-23页 |
| ·Review on the previous research on American sitcoms | 第23-25页 |
| ·Previous researches on humor analysis in American sitcoms | 第23-24页 |
| ·Previous researches on turn-taking in American sitcoms | 第24-25页 |
| ·Feasibility of using How I Met Your Mother as a database | 第25-26页 |
| Chapter Ⅳ Linguistic Description and Analysis of the Data | 第26-67页 |
| ·Graphological level | 第26-35页 |
| ·Punctuation-the frequent use of commas | 第26-28页 |
| ·Printing format | 第28-32页 |
| ·Unusual features of spelling of words and expressions used in the script | 第32-35页 |
| ·Lexical level | 第35-53页 |
| ·Monosyllabic words | 第36-37页 |
| ·Most frequently used words | 第37-43页 |
| ·Catch phrases | 第43-47页 |
| ·Coined words | 第47-51页 |
| ·Informal words and expressions | 第51-53页 |
| ·Syntactical level | 第53-61页 |
| ·Frequently used simple sentences | 第53-56页 |
| ·Active voice | 第56-57页 |
| ·Sentence fragments | 第57-61页 |
| ·Data analysis in terms of pragmatic theories | 第61-66页 |
| ·Data analysis in terms of Speech Act theory | 第61-64页 |
| ·Data analysis in terms of Cooperative Principle | 第64-66页 |
| ·Summary of the above analysis | 第66-67页 |
| Chapter Ⅴ Conclusion | 第67-70页 |
| ·Major findings of this research | 第67-68页 |
| ·Limitation of the study | 第68-69页 |
| ·Limitation of the study | 第69-70页 |
| References | 第70-71页 |
