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Part of
The Pragmatics of Irony and Banter
Edited by Manuel Jobert and Sandrine Sorlin
[Linguistic Approaches to Literature 30] 2018
► pp. 1–19

Chapter 5
Irony and semantic prosody revisited

| University of Huddersfield, UK
This chapter explore Louw’s (1993) claim that from conventionalised semantic prosodies can be indicative of irony. Taking account of criticisms of the concept of , I analyse a short extract from a sketch from the 1960 satirical revue Beyond the Fringe. I argue that the in the sketch derives in part from the projected irony and that can be a useful tool in uncovering this. However, I argue that to fully reveal the source of the ironic effects, it is necessary to utilise a more nuanced approach to , as well as to consider how semantic prosodies clash with each other, and how concepts such as and Gricean act as further triggers of irony.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.
    • 2.1 and irony
    • 2.2 as one aspect of extended units of meaning
    • 2.3 versus
  • 3.Irony in “Aftermyth of war”
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 25 April 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.30.05mci
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