The Function of Presupposition in the Creation of Verbal Humor in the Selected Iranian Comedy Plays During 1920-1940

Pragmatics is an important branch in contemporary linguistics, analyzing the meaning of what somebody says or writes in a specific linguistic context and is being comprehended by the reader. Presupposition is among the most significant subjects in pragmatics, which focuses on what the speaker or writer assumes to be true before anything is said. It also focuses on common information between the speaker or writer and the reader or listener. This study analyzes how verbal humors are created using presupposition and the tools of such method in the selected Iranian comedy plays during 1920-1940.

This paper uses qualitative research methodology and is based on library research and record keeping. It analyzes the sources and six Iranian comedy plays written during Pahlavi I era, using content analysis and descriptive method.

Analyzing these plays, one finds that verbal humor is one of the methods playwrights use in creating comedy. The use of presupposition is one of the techniques playwrights use to form verbal humor. They use multiple presuppositions in many different ways for such purpose.

The verbal humor in the comedies of Pahlavi I era are shaped based on various presupposition, using the following techniques: Breach of the characters’ or the audience’s presupposition, contradiction of the characters’ presupposition, humorous usage of multiple presupposition, or changing of one presupposition to another, or mixing up the form of a specific presupposition.