| Acknowledgements | 第1-5页 |
| 摘要 | 第5-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-10页 |
| Chapter One An Introduction to Humor | 第10-16页 |
| ·A Brief Introduction to Humor | 第10-11页 |
| ·Definitions of Humor | 第11-14页 |
| ·Classification of Humor | 第14-16页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review on Humor Research | 第16-23页 |
| ·Contrastive Linguistics | 第16-17页 |
| ·Linguistic Studies on Humor | 第17-23页 |
| ·General Introduction | 第17-18页 |
| ·Humor and CP | 第18-20页 |
| ·Humor and RT | 第20-23页 |
| Chapter Three The Language Features of Verbal Humor | 第23-44页 |
| ·Phonological Approach | 第23-30页 |
| ·Lexical Approach | 第30-36页 |
| ·Syntactic Approach | 第36-38页 |
| ·Semantic Approach | 第38-39页 |
| ·Rhetorical Approach | 第39-44页 |
| Chapter Four A Relevance-Theoretic Account of the Understanding of English and Chinese Humors | 第44-69页 |
| ·Introduction | 第44页 |
| ·RT and Utterance Understanding | 第44-47页 |
| ·RT and English and Chinese Humors on the Phonological Level | 第47-54页 |
| ·RT and English and Chinese Humors on the Lexical Level | 第54-58页 |
| ·RT and English and Chinese Humors on the Syntactic Level | 第58-61页 |
| ·RT and English and Chinese Humors on the Semantic Level | 第61-65页 |
| ·RT and English and Chinese Humors on the Rhetorical Level | 第65-69页 |
| Chapter Five Barriers in the Understanding of English and Chinese Humors | 第69-76页 |
| ·Language-based Barriers | 第69-70页 |
| ·Context-based Barriers | 第70-72页 |
| ·Culture-based Barriers | 第72-74页 |
| ·Philosophy-based Barriers | 第74-76页 |
| Chapter Six Conclusion | 第76-80页 |
| ·Major Findings | 第76-77页 |
| ·Implications | 第77-78页 |
| ·For Humor Research | 第77页 |
| ·For RT | 第77-78页 |
| ·For Language Teaching and Learning | 第78页 |
| ·Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research | 第78-80页 |
| Reference | 第80-83页 |
