Introduction.

The section explores issues and topics featured in the May 1987 issue of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language. The purpose in planning the special issues was to explore the multifarious nature of the relationship between language and humor. Section One is devoted to general theories of humor. Victor Raskin and W.J. Pepicello present semantic and pragmatic theories and underscore the widening scope of the discipline of linguistics. Section Two focuses on humor based on the significance of similarities and differences in languages and the attitudes generated by them and includes papers by Christie Davies and Ronald K.S. Macaulay. Section Three is concerned with humor based on language use in specific sociological contexts. Section 4 consists of Dell Hymes's application of a specific humor theory to folklore texts. His analysis of two Chinookan narratives from which a pattern of verbal irony is extrapolated is based on a new theoretical perspective presented by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson. The theme of ambiguity or ambivalence and its resolution has figured prominently in theories of humor. Ambiguity or ambivalence in humor development occurs when a word, utterance, act, role, identity can be considered as belonging to two or more frames of reference. Humor cognition often depends on the resolution of such a state of affairs. The papers in the periodical demonstrate the importance of ambiguity or ambivalence in humor development. Furthermore, the papers also demonstrate that in humor research, disciplinary boundaries are difficult to maintain, since perspectives over and above linguistic ones are necessary for analytical and theoretical developments in the area of language and humor.