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A computer system that generates simple word-play jokes could help disabled children develop better language skills, say UK researchers.

The system is designed for use by children who must communicate via a computer and voice synthesiser. They must normally select from a preset list of words and phrases, which can limit the scope of a conversation.

The system uses a database of word definitions, sounds and syntax to generate simple play-on-words jokes, or puns, on a chosen subject. Called the System to Augment Non-speakers' Dialogue Using Puns (STANDUP), it was developed by Annalu Waller at Dundee University, UK, who has arranged for eight children with cerebral palsy to test the system.

"At the moment these children must use pre-stored phrases to communicate," Waller told New Scientist. "They can't write so they can't type what they want to say."

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The data showed clear national differences in humour, Wiseman says.

People from the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand preferred jokes involving word plays. American and Canadians found gags involving someone else looking stupid most entertaining. And many European countries preferred the surreal entries.

Overall, Germans gave the LaughLab jokes the highest ratings. But they did not express a strong preference for any type of joke. Wiseman's team travelled widely to examine global humour. They found that verbal jokes are common around the world, except in one country. "It is very, very difficult to find joke-telling in Japan," he says.

The results suggest that people from different parts of the world have fundamentally different senses of humour