Research

My research focuses on phonology and its interfaces with phonetics and morphology. Some recent projects include the following.

Bantu (morph)phonology, phonetics, and experimental linguistics

Bantu languages have a rich (morpho)phonology which holds potentially important insights for linguistic theory, however the basic description of these language is often underdeveloped. My work in Bantu examines phonotactic generalizations about noun class morphology, the phonetic details of uncommon sounds (like Xitsonga's 'whistled' fricative <sw> and Xhosa's velar ejective affricate [k͡xʼ]), and incomplete neutralization in Xhosa labial palatalization.

Representative talks and publications

• Aaron Braver and Will Bennett (2016). Phonotactic c(l)ues to Bantu noun class disambiguation. Linguistics Vanguard 2(1):1–11. [PDF]
• Will Bennett and Aaron Braver (2015). The productivity of 'unnatural' labial palatalization in Xhosa. Nordlyd 42(1):33–44 (special issue on palatalization). [PDF]
• Aaron Braver and Will Bennett (2016). Length-based allomorphy in Xhosa noun class prefixes. 90th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Washington , D.C. [Handout]
• Danica Kreusch, Will Bennett, and Aaron Braver (2015). Disambiguating isiXhosa noun classes with phonotactic c(l)ues. 8th World Congress of African Linguistics (WOCAL), Kyoto. [Handout]

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Incomplete neutralization

Incomplete neutralization has been a sticking point in phonological theory because a phonetic contrast is maintained even in the absence of any phonological distinction. I approach incomplete neutralization from both experimental/labphon and theoretical perspectives in order to uncover new cases of the phenomenon, and to provide a model of the phonetics/phonology interface that captures the major generalizations.

Representative talks and publications

• Aaron Braver (2019). Incomplete neutralization as paradigm uniformity with weighted phonetic constraints. Phonology 36(1):1–36. [PDF]
• Aaron Braver (2014). Imperceptible incomplete neutralization: Production, non-identifiability, and non-discriminability in American English flapping. Lingua 152:24–44. [PDF]
• Aaron Braver (2013). Degrees of incompleteness in neutralization: Paradigm uniformity in a phonetics with weighted constraints. Ph.D. dissertation, Rutgers University. [PDF]
• Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawahara (2013). Incomplete vowel lengthening: Japanese monomoraic lengthening as incomplete neutralization. West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics (WCCFL) 31, Arizona State University. [Handout]

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Emphatic lengthening

While vowel length contrasts are common cross-linguistically, this contrast is usually binary: long vs. short. Many languages also employ a different sort of length contrast to express varying degrees of emphasis (e.g., "that lecture was so boring" vs. "that lecture was sooo boring"). My work on emphatic lengthening in English and Japanese shows that at least some speakers can make a six-level duration distinction—much more fine grained than the traditional lexical binary contrast.

Representative talks and publications

• Shigeto Kawahara and Aaron Braver (2014). Durational Properties of Emphatic Consonants in Japanese. JIPA 44(3):237–260. [PDF]
• Shigeto Kawahara and Aaron Braver (2013). The Phonetics of Multiple Vowel Lengthening in Japanese. OJML 3(2):141–148. [PDF]

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Gesture in computer-based phonological learning

Computer-based second language learning is becoming more and more popular, however many insights from research into language pedagogy have not yet made their way into these types of programs. This project aims to test the transferability of a known pedagocial aid—gesture—to computer-based phonological learning. This interdisciplinary project brings together researchers from theoretical and applied linguistics, psychology, and computer science to test whether gesturing avatars in computer-based language learning programs provide the same benefits as gesturing (human) instructors.

Representative talks and publications

• Kimi Nakatsukasa, Aaron Braver, Guangsheng Liang, Tommy Dang, Vinh Nguyen, and Miranda Scolari (Under revision). Pronunciation learning and attention in avatar-based language teaching. Studies in Second Language Acquisition.
• Takehiro Iizuka, Kimi Nakatsukasa, and Aaron Braver (2020). The efficacy of gesture on second language pronunciation: An exploratory study of handclapping as a classroom instructional tool. Language Learning 70(4). [PDF]
• Liang Guangsheng, Vinh T. Nguyen, Kimi Nakatsukasa, Aaron Braver, Tommy Dang, and Miranda Scolari (2019). Multisensory integration of visual and auditory signals during second language learning. Vision Sciences Society (VSS), St. Pete Beach, Florida.
• Kimi Nakatsukasa, Aaron Braver, and Miranda Scolari (2018). Attention in computer-mediated learning: Avatars' gestures in learning vowel length contrasts. Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) Université du Québec à Montréal.

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