# A Functional Trade-off between Prosodic and Semantic Cues in Conveying Sarcasm

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.14892 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.14892/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 1 of its 22 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 27 Aug 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [A Multimodal Corpus for Emotion Recognition in Sarcasm](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.02119/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Leveraging Large Language Models for Sarcastic Speech Annotation in Sarcasm Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.00955/) (2025)
- [Integrating Feedback Loss from Bi-modal Sarcasm Detector for Sarcastic Speech Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.13028/) (2025)
- [Modeling Sarcastic Speech: Semantic and Prosodic Cues in a Speech Synthesis Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.07096/) (2025)
- [ProSarc: Prosody-Aware Sarcasm Recognition Framework via Temporal Prosodic Incongruity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.06168/) (2026)
- [CLASH: Counterfactual Auditing of Lexical and Prosodic Reliance in Spoken Sarcasm Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.16582/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This study investigates the acoustic features of sarcasm and disentangles the interplay between the propensity of an utterance being used sarcastically and the presence of prosodic cues signaling sarcasm. Using a dataset of sarcastic utterances compiled from television shows, we analyze the prosodic features within utterances and key phrases belonging to three distinct sarcasm categories (embedded, propositional, and illocutionary), which vary in the degree of semantic cues present, and compare them to neutral expressions. Results show that in phrases where the sarcastic meaning is salient from the semantics, the prosodic cues are less relevant than when the sarcastic meaning is not evident from the semantics, suggesting a trade-off between prosodic and semantic cues of sarcasm at the phrase level. These findings highlight a lessened reliance on prosodic modulation in semantically dense sarcastic expressions and a nuanced interaction that shapes the communication of sarcastic intent.