Papers and TalksJournal articles
Aaron Braver, Wm. G. Bennett, Camilla Christie, Tyler Miller, and Khethani Yende (under review). Click perception by Zulu listeners. Studies in African Linguistics.
Aaron Braver and Wm. G. Bennett (under review). On the productivity of length-based alternations in Xhosa noun class prefixes. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies.
Stefano Coretta, Joseph V. Casillas, ..., Aaron Braver, 153 others, and Timo Roettger (2023). Multidimensional signals and analytic flexibility: Estimating degrees of freedom in human speech analyses. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science 6(3):1-29, doi:10.1177/25152459231162567. [link | pdf]
Will Bennett and Aaron Braver (2020). Different Speakers, different grammars: Productivity and representation of Xhosa labial palatalization. Phonological Data and Analysis 2(6), doi:10.3765/pda.v2art6.9. [link | pdf]
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), doi:10.1111/lang.12415. [link | pdf]
Aaron Braver (2019). Modelling incomplete neutralisation with weighted phonetic constraints. Phonology 36(1):1–36, doi:10.1017/S0952675719000022. [link | pdf]
Aaron Braver and Will Bennett (2016). Phonotactic c(l)ues to Bantu noun class disambiguation. Linguistics Vanguard 2(1):1–11, doi:10.1515/lingvan-2016-0062. [link | pdf]
Will Bennett and Aaron Braver (2015). The productivity of 'unnatural' labial palatalization in Xhosa. Nordlyd 42(1):33–44 (special issue on palatalization), doi:10.7557/12.3738. [link | pdf]
Aaron Braver (2014). Imperceptible incomplete neutralization: Production, non-identifiability, and non-discriminability in American English flapping. Lingua 152:24–44, doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2014.09.004. [link | pdf]
Shigeto Kawahara and Aaron Braver (2014). Durational Properties of Emphatic Consonants in Japanese. JIPA 44(3):237–260, doi:10.1017/S0025100314000085. [link | pdf]
Shigeto Kawahara and Aaron Braver (2013). The Phonetics of Multiple Vowel Lengthening in Japanese. OJML 3(2):141–148, doi:10.4236/ojml.2013.32019. [link | pdf]
Collections
Will Bennett and Aaron Braver (in prep). Illustrating African Phonologies. Language Science Press.
Peter Staroverov, Daniel Altshuler, Aaron Braver, Carlos A. Fasola, and Sarah Murray (eds; 2010). Rutgers Working Papers in Linguistics (RuWPL) 3. Language Science Press.
Book chapters
Will Bennett and Aaron Braver (under review). isiXhosa. In Bonny Sands, Anne-Maria Fehn, Didier Demolin and Maida Percival (eds.) Non-pulmonic Consonants (Studies in Phonetics), University of Toronto Press.
Aaron Braver (in press). Mergers and Neutralization. In Kuniya Nasukawa, Bridget Samuels, Geoffrey Schwartz, Miklós Törkenczy (eds.) The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Phonology, Second Edition. (Revision of chapter by Alan C.L. Yu in the fist edition.)
Proceedings/working papers
Aaron Braver (2023). Naturalness as a heuristic for (in)complete neutralization: Xhosa’s 'unnatural' labial palatalization. In Suet-Ying Lam and Satoru Ozaki (eds.) Proceedings of NELS 53, vol. 1, pp. 119–128. [link | pdf]
Peter H. Westfall, Andrea L. Arias, Aaron Braver, and Joshua Fredman (2020). You like day-tuh and I like daa-tuh; let's call the whole thing off! 2020 Proceedings of the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, & Education Conference. [pdf]
Aaron Braver and Will Bennett (2016). Phonotactics of noun class disambiguation in Xhosa. In Gunnar Ólafur Hansson, Ashley Farris-Trimble, Kevin McMullin, and Douglas Pulleyblank (eds.) Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Meeting on Phonology. [link | pdf]
Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawahara (2016). Incomplete neutralization in Japanese monomoraic lengthening. In Adam Albright and Michelle A. Fullwood (eds.) Proceedings of the 2014 Annual Meeting on Phonology. [link | pdf]
Aaron Braver, Natalie Dresher, and Shigeto Kawahara (2016). The phonetics of emphatic vowel lengthening in English. In Adam Albright and Michelle A. Fullwood (eds.) Proceedings of the 2014 Annual Meeting on Phonology. [link | pdf]
Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawahara (2015). Incomplete neutralization via paradigm uniformity and weighted constraints. In Thuy Bui and Deniz Özyıldız (eds.) NELS 45 Proceedings vol. 1, pp. 115–124. [link | pdf]
Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawahara (2014). Incomplete vowel lengthening in Japanese: A first study. In Robert E. Stantana-LaBarge (ed.) WCCFL 31 Proceedings, pp. 86–95. [link | pdf]
Aaron Braver (2013). Perception of incompletely neutralized /d/ and /t/ flaps in American English. In Stefan Keine and Shayne Sloggett (eds.) NELS 42 Proceedings, vol. 1, pp. 93–104. [link | pdf]
Aaron Braver (2011). Incomplete Neutralization in American English Flapping: A Production Study. In UPenn Working Papers in Linguistics (17:1): Proceedings of PLC 34. [link | pdf]
Manuscripts/other
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 neutralization of a vocalic length contrast in Japanese. [pdf]
Aaron Braver (2007). An account of N-Drop in Spanish: Empirical evidence and analysis. Senior honors thesis, Brandeis University. [available upon request]
Talks, presentations, and handouts
2026
Selina Wayimba, Aaron Braver, and Will Bennett (upcoming, 2026). Two types of Swahili NC sequences: Acoustic, aerodynamic, and EGG evidence. Bantu 11, Ghent, Belgium.
Selina Wayimba, Aaron Braver, and Will Bennett (upcoming, 2026). An emergent contrast in Swahili: Prenasalized mb and cluster m.b. Conference on Laboratory Phonology (LabPhon) 20, Montreal.
Aaron Braver, Will Bennett, and Didier Demolin (upcoming, 2026). On the EGG signature of clicks in South African Languages. Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL) 57, Buffalo.
Aaron Braver, Will Bennett, Camilla Rose Christie, and Khethani Yende (upcoming, 2026). Click perception by native and non-native click users: A large-scale web-based perception study. Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL) 57, Buffalo.
2025
Selina Wayimba, Aaron Braver, and Will Bennett (2025). True and false prenasalised consonants in Swahili. South African Microlinguistics Workshop (SAMWOP) 13, Makhanda, South Africa.
Aaron Braver, Will Bennett, Camilla Christie, Tyler Miller, and Khethani Yende (2025). Click perception in Nguni: New experimental evidence. Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL) 56, University of Minnesota. [slides]
Will Bennett, Aaron Braver, Tyler Miller, Khethani Yende, and Camilla Christie (2025). Click perception experiments in Xhosa and Zulu. 2025 Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), Philadelphia. [slides]
2024
Mark de Vos, Will Bennett, Paige Cox, and Aaron Braver (2024). Anomalous L2 syllable count judgments. South African Microlinguistics Workshop (SAMWOP) 12, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Aaron Braver (2024). Making Ling 101 accessible for blind students. WashU Linguistics Colloquium, Washington University in St. Louis. [slides]
Aaron Braver and Will Bennett (2024). Acoustic and EGG examination of trilled stops in isiMpondo. Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL) 55, Montreal. [slides]
2023
Aaron Braver (2023). Degree of neutralization in Xhosa's `unnatural' labial palatalization. North East Linguistic Society (NELS) 53, University of Göttingen. [poster]
Aaron Braver (2023). Neutralization in an unnatural process: Labial palatalization in Xhosa. 97th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), Denver. [poster]
2020
Aaron Braver (2020). Incomplete neutralisation with weighted phonetic constraints. Michigan State University Phono Group. [slides]
Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawahara (2020). Perception of fine-grained duration distinctions: Evidence from English pragmatic emphasis. 94th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), New Orleans. [poster]
2019
Kimi Nakatsukasa, Aaron Braver, and Miranda Scolari (2019). Attending to a Gesturing Avatar Facilitates Perception of L2 Phonology: An Eye-Tracking Study. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) 2019, Atlanta.
Kimi Nakatsukasa, Aaron Braver, and Miranda Scolari (2019). Gestures' limited effect on L2 phonology development: an eye-tracking study. Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) 2019, Michigan State University.
Aaron Braver (2019). Neutralization in Xhosa's 'unnatural' labial palatalization. 93rd Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), New York. [slides]
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) 2019, St. Pete Beach, Florida. [poster]
2018
Kimi Nakatsukasa, Aaron Braver, and Miranda Scolari (2018). Attention in computer-mediated learning: Avatats' gestures in learning vowel length contrasts. Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) 2018, UQAM, Montreal.
Aaron Braver (2018). Gesturing avatars in computer-mediated learning of vowel length contrasts. Keynote talk, Conference for Applied Linguistics and Intercultural Communication in Higher Education (CALICHE) 2018, Texas Tech University. [slides]
Aaron Braver (2018). Pedagogical gestures in computer-mediated language learning. University of Calgary.
2017
Aaron Braver (2017). How do you whisper a click? Acoustic correlates of click voicing in whispered speech. 91st Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), Austin, TX. [slides]
Seunghun J. Lee and Aaron Braver (2017). Perceiving non-native contrasts: Xitsonga's 'whistled' fricative vs. [ʃ]. 91st Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), Austin, TX.
2016
Seunghun J. Lee and Aaron Braver (2016). An anti-dispersive contrast: Xitsonga's 'whistled' fricative vs. [ʃ]. Annual Meeting on Phonology (AMP) 2016, USC.
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]
2015
Aaron Braver and Will Bennett (2015). Abstract morphological information cued by phonotactics: Noun class disambiguation in Xhosa. Annual Meeting on Phonology (AMP) 2015, Vancouver. [poster]
Aaron Braver and Will Bennett (2015). Using root shape to choose among prefixes in Xhosa. Colloquium talk, Seoul National University. [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]
Kelly Goldstuck, Will Bennett, and Aaron Braver (2015). Experimentally assessing length-based noun prefix alternations in isiXhosa . 8th World Congress of African Linguistics (WOCAL), Kyoto. [handout]
Aaron Braver and Will Bennett (2015). Phonology or morphology: inter-speaker differences in Xhosa labial palatalization. 89th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), Portland, Oregon. [handout]
2014
Will Bennett and Aaron Braver (2014). Wug-testing a case of 'unnatural' labial palatalization in Xhosa Palatalization Conference, University of Tromsø. [handout]
Aaron Braver and Seunghun J. Lee (2014). Perceiving small contrasts: Xitsonga's 'whistled' fricative vs. [ʃ]. South African Microlinguistics Workshop (SAMWOP) 3, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa. [handout]
Aaron Braver and Will Bennett (2014). Wug-testing bilabial palatalization in isiXhosa passivized verbs. South African Microlinguistics Workshop (SAMWOP) 3 3. North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa. [handout]
Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawahara (2014). Incomplete neutralization via paradigm uniformity and weighted constraints. North East Linguistics Society (NELS) 45, MIT. [handout | poster]
Aaron Braver (2014). What does emphatic lengthening tell us about binary length distinctions?. Invited talk, Cognitive Science Brown Bag, Texas Tech University. [handout]
Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawahara (2014). Modeling incomplete neutralization: Paradigm uniformity and a phonetics with weighted constraints. Annual Meeting on Phonology (AMP), MIT.
Aaron Braver, Natalie Dresher, and Shigeto Kawahara (2014). The phonetics of emphatic vowel lengthening in English. Annual Meeting on Phonology (AMP) 2014, MIT. [handout | poster]
2013
Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawahara (2013). Japanese monomoraic vowel lengthening as incomplete neutralization. Congrès International des Linguistes 19, Geneva.
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]
Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawahara (2013). Incomplete neutralization of Japanese vowel length in monomoraic nouns. 87th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America (LSA), Boston, MA. [handout]
Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawahara (2013). Monomoraic lengthening in Japanese as incomplete neutralization. Tokyo Circle of Phonologists, University of Tokyo. [handout]
2012
Aaron Braver and Shigeto Kawhara (2012). Monomoraic lengthening in Japanese as incomplete neutralization. Colloquium talk, Seoul National University.
2011
Aaron Braver (2011). The Perception of Incompletely Neutralized /t/ and /d/ Flaps in American English. North East Linguistisc Society (NELS) 42, University of Toronto. [poster | handout]
Aaron Braver (2011). (Im)perceptible incomplete neutralization: Two experiments on flapping in American English. Rutgers, UMass, MIT phonology and phonetics workshop (RUMMIT) II, Rutgers University. [handout]
Aaron Braver (2011). Perception of /t/ and /d/ flaps in American English: Some preliminary results Rutgers University Linguistics Conference (RULing) VI, Rutgers University. [handout available upon request]
2010
Aaron Braver (2010). Incomplete neutralization in American English flapping: A production study. 34th Annual Penn Linguistics Colloquium (PLC), University of Pennsylvania.
Aaron Braver (2010). Incomplete neutralization in American English flapping. Laboratory Phonology (LabPhon) 12, University of New Mexico. [poster and handout available upon request]
Aaron Braver (2010). Is there incomplete neutralization in American English flapping? Manchester Phonology Meeting (MFM) 18, University of Manchester. [poster and handout available upon request]
Aaron Braver (2010). Variation in (in)complete neutralization: American English flapping. Rutgers University Linguistics Conference (RULing) V, Rutgers University. [handout available upon request]
2009
Aaron Braver (2009). A task effect on incomplete neutralization? UMass/MIT Meeting of Phonologists (UMMM), University of Massachusetts, Amherst. [handout]
Aaron Braver (2009). Restrictions on DP-internal ellipsis in Spanish Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (HLS) 2009, San Juan, Puerto Rico. [handout]
Aaron Braver (2009). DP-internal ellipsis in Spanish. Rutgers University Linguistics Conference (RULing) IV, Rutgers University. [handout]
2008
Aaron Braver (2008). Phonetic opacity: Flapping and vowel length in American English. Rutgers University Linguistics Conference (RULing) III, Rutgers University.
Aaron Braver 2008. Does phonological output contain morphological structure? Evidence from Consistency of Exponence and fine phonetic details. Rutgers/UMass/Hopkins Optimality Theory workshop (HUMDRUM) III, Rutgers University. [handout]
2007
Aaron Braver (2007). Is N-drop NP ellipsis? Fifth Annual Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Colloquium, Harvard University. [handout available upon request]