Table of Contents

1. Preface; 2. Symbols Used in Transcribing Laughter; 3. Introduction; 4. Part One: How we laugh; 5. The essential ingredients of laughter; 6. Varieties of laughter; 7. Laughing while speaking; 8. Beyond the vocal tract; 9. Part Two: Why we laugh; 10. The feeling of nonseriousness; 11. Nonseriousness without humor; 12. Unplanned humor; 13. Planned humor in oral traditions; 14. Planned humor in writing; 15. Humor in other cultures; 16. Part Three: Pulling things together; 17. Recapitulation; 18. Reconciliation with other studies; 19. Coda; 20. References; 21. Index