Bilingual pun

{{Short description|Pun that utilizes words or phrases from multiple languages}}

A bilingual pun is a pun created by a word or phrase in one language sounding similar to a different word or phrase in another language. The result of a bilingual pun can be a joke that makes sense in more than one language (a joke that can be translated) or a joke which requires understanding of both languages (a joke specifically for those that are bilingual). A bilingual pun can be made with a word from another language that has the same meaning, or an opposite meaning.

Description

A bilingual pun involves a word from one language which has the same or similar meaning in another language's word. The word is often homophonic whether on purpose or by accident.{{cite book |last1=Nash |first1=Walter |title=The Language of Humor |date=1985 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-0-582-29127-0 |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9t6sAgAAQBAJ&dq=bilingual+pun&pg=PA145 |access-date=29 October 2021}} Another feature of the bilingual pun is that the person does not always need to have the ability to speak both languages in order to understand the pun. The bilingual pun can also demonstrate common ground with a person who speaks another language.{{cite book |last1=Knospe |first1=Sebastian |last2=Onysko |first2=Alexander |last3=Goth |first3=Maik |title=Crossing Languages to Play with Words |date=26 September 2016 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3110463095 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n-QsDQAAQBAJ&dq=bilingual+pun&pg=PT155 |access-date=29 October 2021}}

Examples

=Biblical=

There are what appear to be Biblical bilingual puns. In Exodus 10:10, Moses is warned by the Egyptian Pharaoh that evil awaits him. In Hebrew the word "ra" ({{wikt-lang|he|רע}}) means evil, but in Egyptian "Ra" is the sun god. So when Moses was warned the word "ra" can mean the sun god stands in the way, or evil stands in the way.{{cite book |last1=Machinist |first1=Peter |last2=Harris |first2=Robert A |last3=Berman |first3=Joshua A |title=Ve-'Ed Ya'aleh (Gen 2: 6), volume 2: Essays in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Edward L. Greenstein |date=3 September 2021 |publisher=SBL Press |isbn=978-0884145356 |page=1008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IXxEEAAAQBAJ&dq=bilingual+pun+biblical&pg=PA1008 |access-date=29 October 2021}}

=Literature=

Unintentional bilingual puns occur in translations of one of Shakespeare's plays: Henry V. The line spoken by Katherine, "I cannot speak your England" becomes political in French.{{cite book |last1=Hoenselaars |first1=Ton |last2=Kennedy |first2=Dennis |title=Shakespeare's History Plays: Performance, Translation and Adaptation in Britain and Abroad |date=28 October 2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |page=78 |isbn=978-0521829021 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zE-VjqpCVZoC&q=bilingual%20puns%20in%20literature |access-date=29 October 2021}}{{specify|date=March 2023|reason=The whole scene is already political in English. Please explain how does the pun work here.}}

=Mathematics=

The famous paper “Fun with F₁” is a French-English pun as 1 is un in French.

=Gaming=

Wario's name is a portmanteau of the name Mario and the Japanese word warui (悪い), meaning "bad", reflecting how he is a bad version of Mario. But in English, "Wario" can be seen as either a portmanteau of the name Mario and "war", or as a flip of the M in "Mario".

References

=Bibliography=

{{Cite book| title = The Handbook of World Englishes

| trans-title =

| last1 = Nelson | first1 = Cecil L.

| last2 = Proshina | first2 = Zoya G.

| last3 = Davis | first3 = Daniel R.

| year = 2020

| publisher = Blackwell Publishing Ltd.| location = New Jersey

| language = English

| isbn = 978-1119164210

}}

{{Cite book| title = Hong Kong English: Autonomy and Creativity

| trans-title =

| last1 = Kengsly | first1 = Bolton

| year = 2002

| publisher = Hong Kong University Press | location = Hong Kong

| language = de

| isbn = 978-9622095533

}}

External links

[https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/76502/7-puns-make-sense-more-one-language 7 Puns That Make Sense in More Than One Language]