Özet:

Communication between people occurs through the combination of verbal and non-verbal expressions. While verbal communication involves expressing feelings and thoughts through speech, non-verbal communication occurs through facial expressions, gestures and body language. Balanced use of both communication methods contributes to a more open interaction. Laughter, one of the ways of non-verbal communication; It may be a reflection of some emotions such as surprise, satisfaction, excitement, relief and nervousness. Nicknames, which are one of the ways of identifying people and contain cultural discourses, also cause laughter for various reasons. In this study, it is aimed to examine the basis of humorous elements in nicknames by analyzing them within the framework of laughter theories. Using survey, interview and observation methods, data was obtained by conducting a multifaceted research on the society's opinions on whether nicknames contain humor or not, the laughing response to nicknames, the nicknames that are considered humorous in the society and why these nicknames are laughed at. The obtained data were evaluated with the three basic theories of laughter, "Superiority Theory", "Incongruity Theory" and "Relaxation Theory", and the origin of the humor in the nicknames was tried to be determined. As a result of the study, some nicknames are names that identify a person and distinguish him from others, as well as being names that aim to create humor; It has been shown to cause laughter as a result of ridicule, irony and the release of nervous energy.

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