Editing Punch line (section)

== Linguistic analysis ==
A linguistic interpretation of the mechanics of the punch line response is posited by [[Victor Raskin]] in his [[Theories of humor#Script-based semantic theory of humor|script-based semantic theory of humor]]. Humor is evoked when a trigger, contained in the punch line, causes the audience to abruptly shift its understanding of the story from the primary (or more obvious) interpretation to a secondary, opposing interpretation. "The punch line is the pivot on which the joke text turns as it signals the shift between the [semantic] scripts necessary to interpret [re-interpret] the joke text."<ref>{{harvnb|Carrell|2008|page=308}}.</ref> To produce the humor in the verbal joke, the two interpretations (i.e., scripts) need to be both compatible with the joke text ''and'' opposite or incompatible with each other.<ref>{{harvnb|Raskin|1985 |page=99}}.</ref> Thomas R. Shultz, a psychologist, independently expands Raskin's linguistic theory to include "two stages of incongruity: perception and resolution". He explains that "incongruity alone is insufficient to account for the structure of humour. [...] Within this framework, humour appreciation is conceptualized as a biphasic sequence involving first the discovery of incongruity followed by a resolution of the incongruity."<ref>{{harvnb|Shultz|1976|pages=12–13}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Carrell|2008|page=312}}.</ref> Resolution generates laughter.

=== Prosodic features ===
There are many folk theories of how people deliver punchlines, such as punchlines being [[Loudness|louder]] and at a higher [[Pitch (music)|pitch]] than the speech preceding it, or a dramatic pause before the punchline is delivered.<ref name=Pickering>{{cite journal |last1=Pickering |first1=Lucy |last2=Corduas |first2=Marcella |last3=Eisterhold |first3=Jodi |last4=Seifried |first4=Brenna |last5=Eggleston |first5=Alyson |title=Prosidic Markers of Saliency in Humorous Narratives |journal=Discourse Processes |date=November 2009 |volume=46 |issue=6 |pages=517–540 |doi=10.1080/01638530902959604|s2cid=56460926 }}</ref> In laboratory settings, however, none of these changes are employed at a statistically significant level in the production of [[Joke|humorous narratives]].<ref name=Pickering/> Rather, the pitch and loudness of the punchline are comparable to those of the ending of any narrative, humorous or not.<ref name=Pickering/>

=== Jokes without a punch line ===
In order to better elucidate the structure and function of the punch line, it is useful to look at some joke forms that purposely remove or avoid the punch line in their narrative. [[Shaggy dog story|Shaggy dog stories]] are long-winded [[Anti-humor|anti-jokes]] in which the punch line is deliberately anticlimactic. The humor here lies in fooling the audience into expecting a typical joke with a punch line. Instead they listen and listen to nothing funny and end up themselves as the butt of the joke.

Another type of anti-joke is the nonsense joke, defined as having "a surprising or incongruous punch line", which provides either no resolution at all or only a partial, unsatisfactory resolution.<ref>{{harvnb|Ruch|2008|page=49}}.</ref> One example of this is the [[no soap radio]] punch line: "Two elephants were taking a bath. One said, 'Please pass the soap.' The other replied, 'No soap, radio.'" Here the anticipated resolution to the joke is absent and the audience becomes the butt of the joke.