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In everyday communication, speakers go beyond words to synchronize speech sounds and gestures, adding nuanced meanings. For instance, in Colombian Spanish, recounting the distant past involves elongating words, modulating pitch, and using expressive hand movements. This dissertation explores this phenomenon, termed Multimodal Iconic Expressions (MMIEs), using Cognitive Linguistics and Cognitive Grammar. The quantitative study uncovers correlations between verb aspect, nominal quantification, and speech duration, revealing phono-iconic connections. The qualitative study examines construal operations giving rise to MMIEs across semantic domains. MMIEs predominantly appear in discourse Focus, with durative events and mass-like quantities exhibiting pronounced phono-iconic associations. Patterns include stress and beat-like gestures, while more elaborate expressions involve pitch, intensity, duration, and voice-type modulations, elevating iconicity levels. This research advances our understanding of iconicity in language, emphasizing profound conceptual meanings encoded in phonological elements. This research extends the boundaries of our understanding of iconicity in conceptualization and language use, underscoring the capacity of phonological elements to carry profound conceptual meaning.

This dissertation examines the flexibility in the social meanings of sociolinguistic stereotypes and how linguistic and non-linguistic information affect these meanings. The investigation consists of four empirical studies surrounding the case of fresas in Mexico –members of the upper class that are perceived as using a unique linguistic style. Study 1 investigates the linguistic and non-linguistic characteristics associated with the fresa stereotype. Through a qualitative analysis of 64 webpages and 3 performances of the style, it is shown that fresasare perceived as the counterpart of another construct, nacos,and that their linguistic style is linked to English due to various lexical, segmental and prosodic elements. Study 2 focuses on the production of rising contours at the end of declarative sentences as a feature of the fresastyle. Study 3 explores the possibility of these rises index a fresa persona. Using data from a Mexican conversational corpus, an acoustic analysis reveals that there are two types of rising contours produced in declarative sentences, one of which has a steeper f0 slope and is perceived as fresastyle. The results of study 3 suggest that, while the steep rise may not directly index the social category of fresa, it can still be heard as a feature of this linguistic style. Finally, Study 4 investigates how visual appearance affects the social meanings fresa andnaco. 97 Mexican subjects socially categorized individuals on a fresa-naco scale based on a photo and a short audio clip. The 12 photos and 12 audio clips used as stimuli were paired in all possible combinations, in a way that they were perceived to either match or not match, based on stereotypicality. A linear model regression shows that there is indeed an effect due to congruence between audio and visual appearance. Visual information has an effect on social meanings. I

This study examines phonological and morphological features involved in the release of plural marking –s in nominal phrases of Spanish as a second language (L2). The linguistic variety belongs to Spanish spoken by members of the Ngäbe pueblo of Panama. Despite the preference of final /s/ deletion in Panamanian Spanish, morphology seems to activate the production of plural marking –s in certain nominal phrases. Meanwhile, other circumstances stimulating the application of alternative strategies for plural marks are detected. This study also includes questions about the influence of the first language (L1), particularly by comparing Ngäbere and Spanish nominal phrases. It searches to find the origins of plural –s deletion in the substratum of L1 or in the particular scenario of phonological /s/ deletion in Caribbean Spanish.

This study examines phonological and morphological features involved in the release of plural marking –s in nominal phrases of Spanish as a second language (L2). The linguistic variety belongs to Spanish spoken by members of the Ngäbe pueblo of Panama. Despite the preference of final /s/ deletion in Panamanian Spanish, morphology seems to activate the production of plural marking –s in certain nominal phrases. Meanwhile, other circumstances stimulating the application of alternative strategies for plural marks are detected. This study also includes questions about the influence of the first language (L1), particularly by comparing Ngäbere and Spanish nominal phrases. It searches to find the origins of plural –s deletion in the substratum of L1 or in the particular scenario of phonological /s/ deletion in Caribbean Spanish.

This dissertation examines the flexibility in the social meanings of sociolinguistic stereotypes and how linguistic and non-linguistic information affect these meanings. The investigation consists of four empirical studies surrounding the case of fresas in Mexico –members of the upper class that are perceived as using a unique linguistic style. Study 1 investigates the linguistic and non-linguistic characteristics associated with the fresa stereotype. Through a qualitative analysis of 64 webpages and 3 performances of the style, it is shown that fresasare perceived as the counterpart of another construct, nacos,and that their linguistic style is linked to English due to various lexical, segmental and prosodic elements. Study 2 focuses on the production of rising contours at the end of declarative sentences as a feature of the fresastyle. Study 3 explores the possibility of these rises index a fresa persona. Using data from a Mexican conversational corpus, an acoustic analysis reveals that there are two types of rising contours produced in declarative sentences, one of which has a steeper f0 slope and is perceived as fresastyle. The results of study 3 suggest that, while the steep rise may not directly index the social category of fresa, it can still be heard as a feature of this linguistic style. Finally, Study 4 investigates how visual appearance affects the social meanings fresa andnaco. 97 Mexican subjects socially categorized individuals on a fresa-naco scale based on a photo and a short audio clip. The 12 photos and 12 audio clips used as stimuli were paired in all possible combinations, in a way that they were perceived to either match or not match, based on stereotypicality. A linear model regression shows that there is indeed an effect due to congruence between audio and visual appearance. Visual information has an effect on social meanings. I

This research offers insight into the way linguistic constructions develop new meanings by examining a group of semantically and structurally related form-meaning pairings in Spanish, all of which contain a verb and the word cuenta ‘count/account’. Five constructions which now all have cognitive meanings, dar(se) cuenta ‘realize’, caer en la cuenta ‘realize’, hacer (de) cuenta ‘pretend’, tener en cuenta ‘consider’, and tomar (en) cuenta ‘consider’, are examined from the 1200s to the 1900s. The data come from the Historical Corpus del Español (Davies 2002). 5,301 examples of these constructions were coded for factors based on two pilot studies (Healey 2012, 2016) and analyzed using a Random Forests machine-learning algorithm and variable rule analysis. The results indicate that darse cuenta, hacer (de) cuenta, tener en cuenta, and tomar (en) cuenta have followed Traugott’s (1989) first tendency of semantic change whereby meanings based in the external world increasingly become based in the speaker’s internal/mental world. In this case, these four constructions began with more external meanings: dar cuenta ‘give payment’, hacer (de) cuenta ‘settle the account/do a count’, tener en cuenta ‘have in account’, and tomar (en) cuenta ‘take payment’/‘take a count’. These four individual constructions have undergone semantic change via metaphorization. On the other hand, the fifth construction being studied, caer en la cuenta, is a case of analogization from darse cuenta. Another conclusion of this research is that a Verb + cuenta exemplar cluster exists in the speaker’s mind based on the semantic and syntactic relatedness of these constructions.

This study examines vowel formant differences between English speakers in New Mexico that self-identify as Anglo versus those that self-identify as Hispanic. Audio recordings were made of 16 New Mexicans reading short stories and carrier phases with embedded target words. F1 and F2 measurements were compared at the 50% point for monophthongs and at the 20% and 80% points for diphthongs. Mixed effects models assessed statistical significance of ethnicity, gender, and interactional effects on vowel formants and trajectory length. All speakers showed a near-complete overlap of BOT and BOUGHT tokens, supporting a merger. Hispanic men and women patterned together to form a homogenous Hispanic group, and the Hispanic women patterned closer to the Anglo women than did the Hispanic men. The Anglo men and women did not present such a homogenous group. While Anglos shared some commonalities, namely the fronting and raising of BAN and the fronting of BOOT and BOAT, there were several cases in which the Anglo men patterned opposite to the Anglo women. The data were then evaluated in terms of potential participation in the California Vowel Shift (CVS) (Eckert 2008) and as a Western State (as described in Labov, Ash, & Boberg 2006). Findings support New Mexican English as a Western State as well as advancing in CVS, both of which are Anglo-led shifts across the country and in New Mexico. Anglo women lead the way with advancement of CVS, Anglo men and Hispanic women follow (though in different ways), and Hispanic men do not participate except for the BOT-BOUGHT merger. The findings from the Hispanic group were additionally compared with other studies on Chicano English from across the United States, primarily on the topics of diphthong trajectory, BAN-raising, and Hispanic participation in local Anglo-led sound changes. Findings on diphthong trajectories were inconclusive, and it remains a question for further study. The BAT-BAN split, a commonly documented

This research offers insight into the way linguistic constructions develop new meanings by examining a group of semantically and structurally related form-meaning pairings in Spanish, all of which contain a verb and the word cuenta ‘count/account’. Five constructions which now all have cognitive meanings, dar(se) cuenta ‘realize’, caer en la cuenta ‘realize’, hacer (de) cuenta ‘pretend’, tener en cuenta ‘consider’, and tomar (en) cuenta ‘consider’, are examined from the 1200s to the 1900s. The data come from the Historical Corpus del Español (Davies 2002). 5,301 examples of these constructions were coded for factors based on two pilot studies (Healey 2012, 2016) and analyzed using a Random Forests machine-learning algorithm and variable rule analysis. The results indicate that darse cuenta, hacer (de) cuenta, tener en cuenta, and tomar (en) cuenta have followed Traugott’s (1989) first tendency of semantic change whereby meanings based in the external world increasingly become based in the speaker’s internal/mental world. In this case, these four constructions began with more external meanings: dar cuenta ‘give payment’, hacer (de) cuenta ‘settle the account/do a count’, tener en cuenta ‘have in account’, and tomar (en) cuenta ‘take payment’/‘take a count’. These four individual constructions have undergone semantic change via metaphorization. On the other hand, the fifth construction being studied, caer en la cuenta, is a case of analogization from darse cuenta. Another conclusion of this research is that a Verb + cuenta exemplar cluster exists in the speaker’s mind based on the semantic and syntactic relatedness of these constructions.

This study examines vowel formant differences between English speakers in New Mexico that self-identify as Anglo versus those that self-identify as Hispanic. Audio recordings were made of 16 New Mexicans reading short stories and carrier phases with embedded target words. F1 and F2 measurements were compared at the 50% point for monophthongs and at the 20% and 80% points for diphthongs. Mixed effects models assessed statistical significance of ethnicity, gender, and interactional effects on vowel formants and trajectory length. All speakers showed a near-complete overlap of BOT and BOUGHT tokens, supporting a merger. Hispanic men and women patterned together to form a homogenous Hispanic group, and the Hispanic women patterned closer to the Anglo women than did the Hispanic men. The Anglo men and women did not present such a homogenous group. While Anglos shared some commonalities, namely the fronting and raising of BAN and the fronting of BOOT and BOAT, there were several cases in which the Anglo men patterned opposite to the Anglo women. The data were then evaluated in terms of potential participation in the California Vowel Shift (CVS) (Eckert 2008) and as a Western State (as described in Labov, Ash, & Boberg 2006). Findings support New Mexican English as a Western State as well as advancing in CVS, both of which are Anglo-led shifts across the country and in New Mexico. Anglo women lead the way with advancement of CVS, Anglo men and Hispanic women follow (though in different ways), and Hispanic men do not participate except for the BOT-BOUGHT merger. The findings from the Hispanic group were additionally compared with other studies on Chicano English from across the United States, primarily on the topics of diphthong trajectory, BAN-raising, and Hispanic participation in local Anglo-led sound changes. Findings on diphthong trajectories were inconclusive, and it remains a question for further study. The BAT-BAN split, a commonly documented

Speakers commonly re-purpose existing forms in the mental lexicon to create novel form-meaning. Contemporary evidence that such innovation processes have occurred historically is attested in varying degrees of polysemy in the mental lexicon. This dissertation considers speaker motivations underlying these innnovation processes historically. Strong synchronic relationships between frequency and degree of polysemy, on one hand, and frequency and lexical access, on the other hand, have traditionally been interpreted as evidence for the primacy of economic motivations in processes of lexical innovation. In contrast, the cognitive processes that most commonly facilitate innovation, metaphor and metonymy, have largely been described as processes motivated by expressiveness and not being misunderstood. In order to assess the role of these competing motivations in processes of innovation, an idealized model of lexical change is presented, in which the corpus-distributional characteristics of forms used in innovation synchronically are considered independently from (1) the characteristics of polysemous forms synchronically, and (2) the distributional and diachronic consequences of the propagation of novel form-meaning in the speech community. Based on the corpus-distributional characteristics and degree of polysemy of approximately 20 thousand word forms in American English at three synchronic “points” in time (1810-1849, 1910-1929, and 1990-2009), three historical models are presented: a model of polysemy, a model of lexical innovation, and a model of propagation. Results from the model of innovation demonstrate evidence of competing motivations (ie, economy, expressiveness, and not being misunderstood) in processes of innovation historically; importantly, model results demonstrate that the synchronic corpus-distributional characteristics of forms used in innovation are indeed distinct from the synchronic characteristics of polysemous word forms as descri

Speakers commonly re-purpose existing forms in the mental lexicon to create novel form-meaning. Contemporary evidence that such innovation processes have occurred historically is attested in varying degrees of polysemy in the mental lexicon. This dissertation considers speaker motivations underlying these innnovation processes historically. Strong synchronic relationships between frequency and degree of polysemy, on one hand, and frequency and lexical access, on the other hand, have traditionally been interpreted as evidence for the primacy of economic motivations in processes of lexical innovation. In contrast, the cognitive processes that most commonly facilitate innovation, metaphor and metonymy, have largely been described as processes motivated by expressiveness and not being misunderstood. In order to assess the role of these competing motivations in processes of innovation, an idealized model of lexical change is presented, in which the corpus-distributional characteristics of forms used in innovation synchronically are considered independently from (1) the characteristics of polysemous forms synchronically, and (2) the distributional and diachronic consequences of the propagation of novel form-meaning in the speech community. Based on the corpus-distributional characteristics and degree of polysemy of approximately 20 thousand word forms in American English at three synchronic “points” in time (1810-1849, 1910-1929, and 1990-2009), three historical models are presented: a model of polysemy, a model of lexical innovation, and a model of propagation. Results from the model of innovation demonstrate evidence of competing motivations (ie, economy, expressiveness, and not being misunderstood) in processes of innovation historically; importantly, model results demonstrate that the synchronic corpus-distributional characteristics of forms used in innovation are indeed distinct from the synchronic characteristics of polysemous word forms as descri