Embodied Grammar and Humor Benjamin Bergen Department of Linguistics University of Hawai`i Kim Binsted Department of Information and Computer Science University of Hawai`i Abstract Cognitive Linguistics is an approach to the study of language and the mind. Among its main foci are (1) what sorts of knowledge language users have about the form-meaning pairings of their language, and (2) how language use interacts with other cognitive mechanisms, like perception and action systems. In this paper, we survey two lines of Cognitive Linguistic research into how language is represented and processed, relevant to these two areas of interest: the pragmatics associated with particular sentence patterns and the role language plays in cueing visual and motor imagery. Neither has previously been extended to the study of language for the purpose of humor, but we demonstrate the relevance of each to understanding how linguistically conveyed humor works. More broadly, we argue that the use of language for humor is best understood in terms of theories in which linguistic knowledge arises from embodied experiences plus linguistic input, and in which language is interpreted by activating embodied world knowledge. Such theories provide useful insights into cognitive mechanisms used during humor production and understanding, like conceptual metaphor and frame-based knowledge. The upshot is that humor research both supports and is supported by an embodied theory of language. (197 words) Keywords: Syntax, Construction Grammar, Humor, Pragmatics, Embodiment, Imagery, Metaphor 1. Introduction Language is so central to humor that it is often taken for granted that the word "humor" refers to humor effected at least in part through language. Types of humor that do not involve language are qualified appropriately - "physical" humor, "musical" humor, and so on. Not only is humor often based on language, but humor is a large part of what language is used for. Humorous utterances constitute a significant portion of normal daily linguistic interactions, and stand as one of language's major and universal functions, along with conveying information and giving orders, among others. Despite the centrality of language to humor and vice versa, linguists pay very little attention to the use of language for humorous purposes, focusing rather more intently on language in "neutral contexts". Leaving to the side the matter of how it is that a context can be considered "neutral", the important point is that mainstream theories of language use and language structure (e.g. Chomsky 1965, 1995) rarely take into consideration the particular social, cognitive, and structural details of humorous language. Similarly, while most humor researchers take the structure, production, and