This dissertation examines the associations between pragmatic meaning categories in English and specific realizations of prosodic prominence. It has been well-established that in Mainstream American English (MAE), prominence is often used to convey contrast. A more limited set of studies suggests that prosodic prominence may also be capable of conveying semantic intensity. Given the fact that prominence can be achieved via changes in multiple acoustic dimensions, the experiments discussed in this dissertation examine the extent to which listeners associate different realizations of prominence with either meaning category. Previous studies have suggested that contrast and intensity are characterized by prominences featuring differences in pitch (high vs. low) and duration (long vs. extra-long). Therefore, this dissertation begins by asking listeners to make an inference about a speaker's intended meaning after hearing a single instance of prominence produced on a gradable adjective. The results suggest that increased duration is highly associated with an intensified meaning, while differences in pitch height are less clearly associated with one vs. the other. The dissertation continues by investigating which combinations of pitch and duration serve as the strongest cues to contrast and intensity by asking listeners to select which of two prominences best conveys a single meaning category. The results from these experiments indicate that lower pitch and increased duration are preferred for both contrast and intensity, but that asymmetric lengthening of the onset is a particularly strong cue to semantic intensity only. Furthermore, in the final portion of this dissertation, I determine that asymmetric lengthening of the onset is highly preferred as a cue to intensity targeting the attitudinal dimension, as opposed to just the semantic one. Overall, this dissertation provides additional insights listeners' associations of different realizations of prominence with the relatively understudied meaning category of semantic intensity. Furthermore, this project contributes to the wider debate about the mapping between prominence and pragmatic meaning, suggesting that listeners do not simply pay attention to whether a word is categorically more prominent, but attend to differences in how that prominence is being achieved. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]