Abstract: Pun jokes are a typical form of verbal humor that relies on ambiguity, contextual reinterpretation, and the resolution of incongruity. In Chinese, semantic puns and homophonic puns are two important types of pun-based humor. Semantic pun jokes mainly depend on the multiple meanings of the same linguistic form and require the reader to shift between different semantic frames, whereas homophonic pun jokes rely on phonological similarity between words and require the activation of an unstated but contextually relevant meaning. Although previous studies have examined joke comprehension and pun processing, relatively little is known about whether Chinese semantic and homophonic pun jokes follow the same temporal dynamics during incongruity detection, meaning reconstruction, and humor appreciation. The present study used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine the neural time course of Chinese semantic and homophonic pun joke comprehension.
A 2 × 2 within-subject design was adopted, with material type (semantic pun vs. homophonic pun) and humorousness (joke vs. non-joke) as factors. Native Chinese speakers read four types of sentence materials: semantic pun jokes, semantic pun non-jokes, homophonic pun jokes, and homophonic pun non-jokes. Joke and non-joke sentences within each pun type shared the same critical punchline word, while the preceding context was manipulated to create either a humorous or non-humorous interpretation. Participants were asked to read each sentence and then rate its unexpectedness, comprehensibility, and funniness. EEG signals were recorded while participants processed the critical words. ERP analyses focused on P200, N400, early late positive potential (early LPP), and late late positive potential (late LPP) components, which were used to index early salience detection or preliminary incongruity awareness, semantic integration, meaning reconstruction, and later evaluative or affective processing.
Behavioral results showed that pun jokes were rated as more unexpected and funnier than non-jokes. Comprehension ratings did not differ between jokes and non-jokes, but were higher for semantic-pun than for homophonic-pun materials. ERP results showed that pun jokes elicited larger P200 and early/late LPP amplitudes than non-jokes, suggesting early salience detection, meaning reconstruction, contextual integration, and later affective evaluation. These findings support a multi-stage account of joke comprehension. Further analyses showed that semantic pun jokes elicited larger early and late LPP amplitudes than homophonic pun jokes, indicating greater cognitive demands during meaning reconstruction and contextual integration. This suggests that subjective funniness and late ERP effects may reflect different processes: immediate humor experience versus deeper semantic integration and sustained evaluative processing.
Overall, this study provides ERP evidence for the multi-stage processing of Chinese pun jokes and shows that semantic and homophonic puns differ in late-stage cognitive and affective processing. The findings suggest that Chinese pun joke comprehension involves the interaction of linguistic ambiguity, contextual constraints, semantic reconstruction, and humor appreciation.

Key words: semantic pun jokes, homophonic pun jokes, verbal humor, incongruity resolution, event-related potentials