Phonological humor as perception and representation of foreignness

The repertoire of humor based on the phonological aspect of language is vast, and such humor can be found in different media and textual modes. This article focuses on verbal humor, specifically on ‘phonological jokes,’ in which words or phonemes of one’s own language are made to imitate or parody the sounds of another language (Muñoz-Basols 2013). Based on evidence that this type of joke is a widespread practice found in over 30 languages (Muñoz-Basols 2012), we classify the linguistic strategies used in such jokes to humorously represent foreignness. We analyze phonological jokes within the framework of cultural, social, individual, and comparative humorous contexts (Oring 2008), and we establish that they differ from ethnic jokes and belong to a distinct category of humor.