1. syntax, semantics and morphology - university of...

Grammar 1 Michael A. Estrada

1. Syntax, Semantics and Morphology 1.1 “No es lo mismo (decir)…” There are jokes in Spanish that play on the manipulation of the syntax and semantics of Spanish, using the rearranging of words to change the meaning of a sentence for a humorous effect. No es lo mismo decir or, "It's not the same to say" jokes are jokes or sentences that play on a few linguistic aspects. Firstly and mainly, they play on the syntax of the sentences. By reordering the words in the sentences a different meaning comes into play because different syntactic relationships are formed. Secondly, these jokes also play on how there are words in Spanish that are pronounced the same but have different meanings, i.e. homophones. In some special cases, the sentences take into advantage the ongoing sound stream of words to make them funny. Like any form of joke these can also turn dirty, taking a sentence that is completely innocent and through the rearranging of words or by adding similar sounding ones making it vulgar for a humorous effect. Lastly, I believe it sometimes takes some morphology into account as well, breaking up or adding compound words to change the meaning of the sentences.

In addition, it also plays on similar sounding words that aren’t actually the same. Spanish speakers realize that two different words are different yet sound alike and utilize this to their advantage in creating the jokes, creating a sort of rhyme to the sentence that corresponds to different meanings. The proper term is retruécano. Through reading a Wikipedia article I found that in Linguistics this is actually called a scheme, which is "a figure of speech that changes the normal arrangement of words in a sentence's structure1". 1.1.1 Examples No es lo mismo: La sopa hirviendo que ir viendo la sopa. It's not the same to say: "The boiling soup" and "To go by looking at the soup" No es lo mismo decir: yo me río en el baño que yo me baño en el río. It’s not the same to say: “I laugh in the bath” and “I bathe in the river” No es lo mismo decir se avecina una tormenta que se atormenta una vecina. It’s not the same: "A storm is coming" and "A neighbor torments herself" No es lo mismo decir en el rio missisipi que en el rio me hice pipi It’s not the same to say: "In the Mississippi River" and "In the river I went to the bathroom" No es lo mismo un camaleon que un leon en la cama


It's not the same "a chamaleon" and "a lion on the bed" No es lo mismo los dolores de las piernas que las piernas de Dolores It's not the same: "leg pain" and the "legs of Dolores" No es lo mismo decir que hay grandes libros en el mundo y grandes mundos en los libros It is not the same to say, "there are great books in the world" and "great worlds in the books" No es lo mismo comer carne con un tenedor que comer carne en un contenedor It's not the same "to eat meat with a fork" and "to eat meat in a container" No es lo mismo una chica muy mona que una mona muy chica It's not the same: "a very crazy girl" and "a monkey very little" No es lo mismo un sabio mono que un monosabio It's not the same: a wise monkey and a young man No es lo mismo decir Corazon Aquino que corazón aquí no It’s not the same to say: "Corazon Aquino (person)" and "A heart? Here, no" No es lo mismo decir Santo Tomás de Aquino, que aquí nomas tomamos. It’s not the same to say: "Saint Thomas Aquinas" and "Here we're only drinking" Ni son todos los que están, ni están todos los que son Neither is it everyone who is here, nor is everyone here who are No es lo mismo decir el sida no tiene cura, que el cura tiene sida. It’s not the same to say: "AIDS has no cure" and "The doctor has AIDS" 1.1.2 Links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_(linguistics) 1

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retru%C3%A9cano http://www.juegosdepalabras.com/retruecano.htm http://www.publispain.com/chistes/chistes-de-no-es-lo-mismo.htm

2. Cartoon Jokes 2.1 Mafalda A famous comic written by Argentine author/cartoonist Joaquín Salvador Lavado, or Quino, that revolves around a young girl named Mafalda. The strips below are examples I think may be useful in showing both the humor in Spanish comic strips and in the way language grammar can be manipulated for humor.


2.1.1 Mafalda Comic Strips

M: What the hell is that, Felipe? F: A yo-yo. M: A, you-you? F: No! A "yo-yo"! M: Oh! A, Felipe-Felipe? F: No! It is not "yo" of "I"! It is called "yo-yo!" Understand? "Yo-yo"! "Yo-yo"! M: Egotist!

WHACK! M: Allegoric, the woman is! (Playing on how Spanish uses the onomatopoeic word "paz" for a hitting sound, but it also means peace)


M: Here I go! On my way toward infinity! M: ? M: M: Here I go! On my way toward infinity! Mom: I'm warning you, Mafalda: my patience has a limit...! M: Infinity as well... Comic strip playing on semantics?

M: Mom! This milk has a skin coating (of milk) M: Always the same! Don't you check to see if it has it when you serve it? M: M: Or are you against birth control? (or, the other meaning, control of "nata") Here, the comic is playing on morphology. Natalidad in Spanish means "birth" or "natality", hence where the humor comes in. Mafalda adds the suffix -dad to nata and thus creates the double-meaning.


TV: Now-a-days, that we live in a modern society... M: Modern dirtiness? Dad: Modern SOciety! ... M: Modern ZOOciety? The comic strip above uses the phonetics of Spanish to create humor. Because the word suciedad, 'dirtiness' sounds very similar to sociedad, 'society', Quino uses the almost homphones to create the joke about modern society being dirty. Then Quino continues with Mafalda trying yet again to understand what they are talking about on TV, saying ZOOciedad, which if it were a real word it would sound just like sociedad.

M: It's one thing an independent country and another a country "in the pending" More than anything, this small strip shows a play on the phonetic similarity of the two languages, which is rare. Indeed, this also almost shows how the [d] phoneme in Spanish becomes realized as the voiced fricative [ð] when between two vowels, but because of the [n] preceding the [d] it doesn’t come out quite so.


M: Why don't we have a car? Mom: Well...because of what your dad said: We're middle-class. Do you remember? M: Ohhh! Middle-class, that's right. ... M: Class Half-stupid, of course. Possibly a play on morphology.

1. syntax, semantics and morphology - university of...

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