After completing a BA in linguistics and English literature at Tel Aviv University in 1976, Ariel studied at the
University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated with an MA in 1978. Ariel returned to Tel Aviv University in 1979 to pursue her PhD studies. She was advised by
Tanya Reinhart and
Ellen Prince and was awarded her PhD in 1986 with a dissertation entitled,
Givenness marking. She subsequently spent a brief period as honorary research fellow in
sociolinguistics at the
University of London. Ariel was hired as Lecturer at Tel Aviv University in 1988 and spent her whole career there, reaching the rank of full professor in 2006. == Honors ==