| Acknowledgements | 第1-6页 |
| Abstract in English | 第6-8页 |
| Abstract in Chinese | 第8-10页 |
| Chapter One Introduction | 第10-14页 |
| ·An Introduction to Humor | 第10-14页 |
| Chapter Two Literature Review | 第14-33页 |
| ·Humor in Etymological, Physiological and Psychological Senses | 第15-16页 |
| ·The Definition and Classification of Humor | 第16-19页 |
| ·The Definition of Humor | 第17-18页 |
| ·The Classification of Humor | 第18-19页 |
| ·Three Classical Categories of Humor Theories | 第19-23页 |
| ·uperiority Theory | 第20-21页 |
| ·Relief Theory | 第21页 |
| ·congruity Theory | 第21-23页 |
| ·Modern Linguistic Humor Theories | 第23-30页 |
| ·The Semantic Script Theory of Humor (SSTH) | 第23-26页 |
| ·Pragmatics-- related Theories of Verbal Humor | 第26-30页 |
| ·Verbal Humor as Violation of CP maxims | 第26-27页 |
| ·Verbal Humor as Non-bona-fide Mode of Communication | 第27-28页 |
| ·Verbal Humor as Face-saving Act | 第28-29页 |
| ·Verbal Humor as Character-did-it Hypothesis | 第29-30页 |
| ·The Nature and Functions of Humor | 第30-33页 |
| ·The Nature of Humor | 第30-31页 |
| ·The Functions of Humor | 第31-33页 |
| Chapter Three The Analysis of English Verbal Humor from Perspective of Semantics | 第33-46页 |
| ·Introduction | 第33页 |
| ·The Concept of Ambiguity | 第33-34页 |
| ·Sample Analysis of English Verbal Humor from the Perspective of Semantics | 第34-46页 |
| ·Phonological Ambiguity | 第35-41页 |
| ·Absolute Homonymy | 第35-38页 |
| ·Partial Homonymy | 第38-40页 |
| ·False Homonymy | 第40-41页 |
| ·Lexical Ambiguity | 第41-43页 |
| ·Syntactic Ambiguity | 第43-45页 |
| ·S ummary | 第45-46页 |
| Chapter Four The Analysis of English Verbal Humor from Perspective of Pragmatics | 第46-67页 |
| ·The Cooperative Principle and Deviation | 第46-55页 |
| ·The Cooperative Principle | 第46-47页 |
| ·The Deviation | 第47-48页 |
| ·Sample Analyses of English Verbal Humor on Deviations from Maxims of CP | 第48-55页 |
| ·English Verbal Humor and Deviation from Maxim of quantity | 第49-51页 |
| ·English Verbal Humor and Deviation from Maxim of Quality | 第51-52页 |
| ·English Verbal Humor and Deviation from the Maxim of Relevance | 第52-54页 |
| ·English Verbal Humor and Deviation from the Maxim of Manner | 第54-55页 |
| ·The Politeness Principle | 第55-59页 |
| ·The Maxims of Politeness Principle | 第55页 |
| ·The Relationship between CP and PP | 第55-57页 |
| ·Sample Analysis of Humor Using Politeness Principle | 第56-57页 |
| ·English Verbal Humor and Flouting the Politeness Principle | 第57-59页 |
| ·Speech Act Theory | 第59-62页 |
| ·Sample Analysis of English Verbal Humor Within Speech Acts Theory | 第60-62页 |
| ·Deixis | 第62-66页 |
| ·person deixis | 第62-63页 |
| ·place deixis | 第63-64页 |
| ·time deixis | 第64页 |
| ·English Verbal Humor and Deixis | 第64-66页 |
| ·English Verbal Humor and Person deixis | 第64-65页 |
| ·English Verbal Humor and Place deixis | 第65-66页 |
| ·English Verbal Humor and Time deixis | 第66页 |
| ·Summary | 第66-67页 |
| Chapter Five Conclusion | 第67-69页 |
| Bibliography | 第69-74页 |
