ABSTRACT
The ability to make or understand jokes that involve knowledge of more than one language does not always require that a person is fully bilingual. Many jokes involving more than one language require competence in one language and often, simple acquaintance with another. Usually, the crucial components are knowledge of the pronunciation system of both languages, and of the basic lexicon of the lesser-known language. Naturally, the more linguistically sophisticated a bilingual joke is, the greater the knowledge of both languages that is required. Interlingual, or multilingual, jokes exploit the fundamental fact that a string of phonemes, outside a context of use, may mean nothing in one language, but may have one or many meanings depending on the languages available to joke tellers and joke listeners in the context of use.
