I. YAKOVLEV CHUVASH STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY BULLETIN

pun, functions of puns, comic effect, fairy tales, Norton Juster

This article is devoted to the study of the features of puns functioning in fairy tales by the American writer Norton Juster. The issues of formation and functioning of puns in the works of various authors are devoted to the works of both Russian and foreign linguists. Puns are not only a powerful means of humor, but also a very effective communication tool. They can be used to attract attention and create memorable images in advertising and marketing. In addition, puns are widely used in literature and political satire, adding elements of wordplay and wit to texts and statements. Wordplay in the works of N. Juster primarily serves as a means of enriching the main text, allowing to create a multi-level narrative accessible to both children and adults. This work is intended to expand the existing research, since puns in the works of this author have not yet been studied much. To achieve this goal, the fairy tales of N. Juster “The Phantom Tollbooth” and “The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics” were examined. The study used the analysis of literary sources, systematization of data, comparative analysis, classification and description. The study showed that puns in N. Juster’s fairy tales perform various functions, the predominant one being the function of an intellectual game with the reader. By using various functions of a pun, from allusive to structure-forming, the author not only decorates the story, but also introduces the reader to a complex play on words, which stimulates intellectual interaction, reveals the multi-layered nature of the characters and enriches the context.

Martynova, Irina Nikolaevna – Candidate of Pedagogics, Associate Professor of the Department of English Philology and Translation Studies, I. Yakovlev CHSPU, Cheboksary, Russia, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8334-8429, irinamartynova08@mail.ru