F rom a communication psychology point of view, irony is not only a rhetorical gure or a cunning linguistic device, but also an articulated strategy for a exible negotiation of meaning, as well as for establishing and maintaining relations with others. Within the "irony family" phenomena our attention is focused on the sarcastic irony generated in a con ict context ("praise by blame") and on the kind irony produced in a cooperation context ("blame by praise"). The effects of the variability of contextual cues on the vocal variables (Fo, energy, time) of irony were studied. Through the analysis of the vocal features of standard phrases in a con ict or cooperation context, an ironic dominant pattern has been found consisting of caricatured vocal traits, although differences referring to the two ironic expressions came out. From a subject-by-subject analysis, four ironic patterns were obtained: (1) in the cooperation context (a) a rather high and changeable pitch and strong energy ("bantering" joy) were observed, as well as (b) a low and monotone pitch and strong energy (emphatic mark of tenderness); (2) in the con ict context (a) a very high and changeable pitch, strong energy, and slow rate of articulation ("accented banter") were found, as well as (b) a low and not very changeable pitch, slow rate of articulation, and steadily soft energy (like scorn and cold anger). Following these four vocal patterns, the ironic voice could be de ned as a "voice of banter." In such a way, irony appears as a method used to manipulate the weight of indirect speech, which allows the ef cacy of the word and the innocence of silence. Moreover, the ironist can be described as an able director of his own image, able to play with the voice. Within social relationships, in fact, he can use his own voice for calibrating strategically his ways of (un)masking himself to the others. D u point de vue de la psychologie de la communication, l'ironie n'est pas seulement une gure de rhétorique ou un astucieux dispositif langagier, mais aussi une stratégie articulée à la fois pour une négociation exible du sens et pour établir et maintenir les relations avec les autres. Dans la "famille de l'ironie", on a concentré l'attention sur l'ironie sarcastique générée dans un contexte con ictuel ("éloge par des reproches") et sur l'ironie débonnaire produite dans un contexte de coopération ("reproches par l'éloge"). Les effets de la variabilité des éléments contextuels sur les variables vocales (Fo, énergie, temps) de l'ironie ont été étudiés dans cette recherche. A travers l'analyse des traits vocaux des expressions standards dans un contexte de con it ou de coopération, un modèle ironique dominant se distingue, consistant en traits vocaux caricaturés, quoique des différences subsistent selon les deux expressions ironiques. Par une analyse "sujet par sujet", quatre modèles de voix ironique émergent: (1) contexte de la coopération: (a) voix avec un ton plutôt haut et changeant et avec une forte énergie (joie "drôle"), (b) voix avec un ton bas et monotone ...
