Ervas Francesca, Fadda Roberta
Department of Education, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari Faculty of Humanities, Cagliari, Sardegna, Italy.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2025 Aug 14;380(1932):20230488. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0488.
Irony is challenging for school-aged children. It involves various processes, including advanced pragmatic and Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities. While there is extensive research on irony comprehension in children, less is known about irony production. This article discusses the possible role of linguistic intimacy and ToM in irony production in children. In irony production, positive linguistic intimacy is elicited to deliver a negative critical remark. Specifically, we will explore how linguistic intimacy, i.e. the feeling of being part of a community via implicit language, might mediate the production of irony versus sarcasm. Familiar contexts enhance both linguistic intimacy and ToM, making irony and sarcasm easier to produce. The article also addresses why irony, and especially sarcasm, is difficult for children to master. In childhood, the affective component of ToM is crucial for community building and belonging. As a result, children may suppress ironic and sarcastic comments to prevent negative social consequences. Specifically, sarcasm produces affective incoherence by targeting a person rather than a situation. For this reason, it might be less likely to be used due to its potential harm to linguistic intimacy. This perspective helps explain the developmental challenges of producing irony versus sarcasm, emphasizing the role of ToM and linguistic intimacy. Future research might test the hypothesis we propose.This article is part of the theme issue 'At the heart of human communication: new views on the complex relationship between pragmatics and Theory of Mind'.
反讽对学龄儿童来说具有挑战性。它涉及多种过程，包括高级语用能力和心理理论（ToM）能力。虽然对儿童反讽理解的研究广泛，但对反讽生成的了解较少。本文讨论了语言亲密性和心理理论在儿童反讽生成中的可能作用。在反讽生成中，积极的语言亲密性被引发以传达负面的批判性评论。具体来说，我们将探讨语言亲密性，即通过隐性语言成为社区一部分的感觉，如何可能调节反讽与讽刺的生成。熟悉的语境会增强语言亲密性和心理理论，使反讽和讽刺更容易产生。本文还探讨了为什么反讽，尤其是讽刺，对儿童来说难以掌握。在童年时期，心理理论的情感成分对于社区建设和归属感至关重要。因此，儿童可能会抑制反讽和讽刺性评论以避免负面的社会后果。具体而言，讽刺通过针对人而非情境产生情感上的不一致。出于这个原因，由于其对语言亲密性的潜在危害，它可能不太可能被使用。这一观点有助于解释反讽与讽刺生成的发展挑战，强调了心理理论和语言亲密性的作用。未来的研究可能会检验我们提出的假设。本文是主题为“人类交流的核心：关于语用学与心理理论之间复杂关系的新观点”的一部分。
