Linguistic Research

All of my work in semantics. I am currently working on a follow-up project I began in tandem with Sound & Sensation to develop a computer program to aid in phonosemantic research.

Sound & Sensation:
Experimental Phonosemantics in Brand Naming

Summer 2023

My graduate research in phonosemantics — how sounds influence perceptions of meaning. For many linguists, the sounds of words are assumed to be arbitrary, so this research takes an experimental approach to assess the validity of the claim that sounds inherently carry meaning. To do so, I use the framework of brand naming for car models to survey people's interpretations of sounds and how they correspond to the meanings they allegedly correlate to. The results indicate that there is reason to believe that sounds do, in fact, carry meanings. However, data analysis shows that those meanings may not necessarily be inherent to the sounds, but, rather, the result of a complex, subconscious relationship between vocabulary awareness and perceptions of individual words. What this means for branding is that sounds can be researched for how effectively they evoke target feelings and meanings.

Sound & Sensation Updated.pdf

The Synonym Spectrum:
Perceptions of Synonyms Among English Speakers

Spring 2021

My undergraduate honors thesis which explores a critical question in everyday speech: when you use a synonym for a word, is the experience of that word for you experienced the same way by who you're speaking to? While skepticism might lend to the belief that everyone feels differently about the same words, in this study on synonymy, my analysis lends more to the opposite: that there are generalized patterns in how different people evaluate the same synonyms. Using this data, I then explore how different clusters of synonyms could be theoretically modeled into a gradient of terms on different axes of meaning. Say you wanted to use a program that would effectively convey the emotional nuances of a thought or idea to others — this research suggests that language modeling can take it to task.

The Synonym Spectrum - Perceptions of Synonyms Among English Speakers.pdf

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