Prof. Ezer Rasin

I am an Associate Professor in the Linguistics Department at Tel Aviv University. I completed my PhD in Linguistics at MIT in 2018. I have a BSc in Mathematics and Linguistics and an MA in Linguistics, both from Tel Aviv University. Before joining Tel Aviv University as a faculty member, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the graduate program "Interaction of Grammatical Building Blocks" (IGRA) at Leipzig University.

My main research areas are phonology, learnability, and computational linguistics.  I head the TAU Phonological Computation Lab. The lab's website is the most up-to-date source for my research, publications, and teaching.

My name is pronounced ['ɛzɛʁ ʁa'sin].

• Marco, Eyal and Ezer Rasin. On the nature of phonological cyclicity: Evidence from Nazarene Arabic. Submitted. Available at ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/009876.
• Marco, Eyal, Roni Katzir and Ezer Rasin. The complementary-distribution challenge for phonological learning: The case of [h] and [ŋ] in English. Accepted to Linguistic Inquiry. Available at: \ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/009103.
• Marco, Eyal and Ezer Rasin. 2026. Optimal Paradigms: A challenge from Judeo-Tripolitanian Arabic. Accepted to Linguistic Inquiry.
• Bistry, Moty, Si Berrebi, Eyal Marco, and Ezer Rasin. An Overview of Phonological Interactions in Judeo-Baghdadi Arabic. Submitted. Available at https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/007700.
• Frischoff, Alma and Ezer Rasin. On the absence of crucially-simultaneous phonological interactions in natural language. Accepted to Phonology. Available at https://lingbuzz.net/lingbuzz/008432.
• Berrebi, Si, Eyal Marco, Areej Khourieh, and Ezer Rasin. 2023. The Tel-Aviv University Audio Database of Judeo-Baghdadi Arabic, Version 1.0. Online access at: https://pcomplab.github.io/JBAdatabase.html.
• Obiri-Yeboah, Michael and Ezer Rasin. 2025. Productive Phrasal Opacity in Gua: A Challenge to Stratal Optimality Theory. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 43, 479–508. doi.org/10.1007/s11049-024-09615-7
• Rasin, Ezer. Morpheme Structure Constraints Solve Three Puzzles for Theories of Blocking in Nonderived Environments. Accepted to Linguistic Inquiry. Available at https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/007699.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2022. Shifting Interactions and Countershifting Opacity: A Note on Opacity in Harmonic Serialism. Linguistic Inquiry 53:4, 836-851.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2022. Challenges for the Size-based Parallel Analysis of Modern Hebrew Vowel Deletion . Radical: A Journal of Phonology, 4, 9-43.
• Rasin, Ezer, Iddo Berger, Nur Lan, Itamar Shefi, and Roni Katzir. 2021. Approaching explanatory adequacy in phonology using Minimum Description Length. Journal of Language Modelling 9, vol. 1, pp. 17-66.
• Ampofo, Joana Serwaa and Ezer Rasin. True Self-counterfeeding Vowel Harmony in Akan Serial Verb Constructions. In Farinella, Alessa and Angelica Hill (eds.), Proceedings of NELS 51, vol. 1, pp. 11–23.
• Rasin, Ezer, Omer Preminger, and David Pesetsky. A Re-evaluation of Arad’s Argument for Roots. To appear in Proceedings of the 39th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics.
• Gleim, Daniel and Ezer Rasin. Transderivational Faithfulness but not Cyclic Architectures Can Generate Transparent Countercyclic Effects. To appear in Proceedings of the 39th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics.
• Rasin, Ezer and Athulya Aravind. 2020. The Nature of the Semantic Stimulus: The Acquisition of Every as a Case Study. Natural Language Semantics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11050-020-09168-6
• Rasin, Ezer, Itamar Shefi, and Roni Katzir. 2020. A Unified Approach to Several Learning Challenges in Phonology. In Asatryan, Mariam, Song, Yixiao, and Whitmal, Ayana (eds.), Proceedings of NELS 50, vol. 3, pp. 73-87.
• Rasin, Ezer and Roni Katzir. 2020. A Conditional Learnability Argument for Constraints on Underlying Representations. Journal of Linguistics, 56(4), 745-773. https:/doi.org/10.1017/S0022226720000146
• Rasin, Ezer. 2020. Evidence Against Sonority-Driven Stress in Nanti. In Baird, Maggie and Pesetsky, Jonathan (eds.), Proceedings of NELS 49, vol. 3, pp. 59-72.
• Rasin, Ezer, Nur Lan, and Roni Katzir. 2019. Simultaneous Learning of Vowel Harmony and Segmentation. In Jarosz, G., Nelson, M., O'Connor, B., and Pater, J. (eds.), Proceedings of SCiL 2019, vol. 2, pp. 353-357.
• Rasin, Ezer and Roni Katzir. 2018. Learning Abstract Underlying Representations from Distributional Evidence. In Hucklebridge, S. and Nelson, M., editors, Proceedings of NELS 48, pp. 283–290.
• Rasin, Ezer, Iddo Berger, Nur Lan, and Roni Katzir. 2018. Learning Phonological Optionality and Opacity from Distributional Evidence. In Hucklebridge, S. and Nelson, M. (eds.), Proceedings of NELS 48, pp. 269–282.
• Bassi, Itai and Ezer Rasin. 2018. Equational-Intensional Relative Clauses with Syntactic Reconstruction. In Uli Sauerland and Stephanie Solt (eds.), Proceedings of Sinn und Bedeutung 22, vol. 1, ZASPiL 60, pp. 143–159. ZAS, Berlin.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2017. The Stress-Encapsulation Universal and Phonological Modularity. Ms, MIT.
• Rasin, Ezer and Roni Katzir. On Evaluation Metrics in Optimality Theory. Linguistic Inquiry 47:2. [code]
• Rasin, Ezer. 2016. Two Types of Resumptive Pronouns: A Minimal Account of Hebrew Interpretive Asymmetries. In Andrew Lamont and Katerina Tetzloff (eds.), Proceedings of NELS 47, vol. 3, pp. 25–34.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2016. Indexed Roots: On the Representation of Roots in Israeli Hebrew Verbal Morphophonology. In Gonen, Einat (ed.), Researching Spoken Hebrew, Teuda 27, pp. 275-294. [in Hebrew]
• Rasin, Ezer. 2015. A Rule-Ordering Theory of Blocking in Nonderived Environments. In Hansson, Gunnar Ólafur, Farris-Trimble, Ashley, McMullin, Kevin and Pulleyblank, Douglas (eds.), Supplemental Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Meeting on Phonology. Linguistic Society of America, Washington, DC.
• Rasin, Ezer and Roni Katzir. 2015. Compression-based Learning for OT is Incompatible with Richness of the Base. In Thuy Bui and Deniz Özyıldız (eds.), Proceedings of NELS 45, vol. 2, pp. 267–274

• Rasin, Ezer, Omer Preminger and David Pesetsky. 2021. A Re-evaluation of Arad's Argument for Roots. Talk, WCCFL 39, University of Arizona, April 8-11, 2021.
• Gleim, Daniel and Ezer Rasin. 2021. Transderivational Faithfulness but not Cyclic Architectures Can Generate Transparent Countercyclic Effects. Poster, WCCFL 39, University of Arizona, April 8-11, 2021.
• Ampofo, Joana Serwaa and Ezer Rasin. 2020. True Self-counterfeeding Vowel Harmony in Akan Serial Verb Constructions. Talk, NELS 51, UQAM, November 6-8, 2020.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2020. Shifting Interactions and Countershifting Opacity: On Opacity in Harmonic Serialism. Leipzig Opacity Symposium, Leipzig University, May 29-30, 2020.
• Rasin, Ezer and Jochen Trommer. 2019. Iterativity in Phonology (slides). Workshop on Iterativity in Grammar, Leipzig University, December 2–3, 2019.
• Rasin, Ezer, Itamar Shefi, and Roni Katzir. 2019. A Unified Approach to Several Learning Challenges in Phonology. Talk, NELS 50, MIT, October 25–27, 2019.
• Rasin, Ezer and Jochen Trommer. 2019. Allomorph Selection and Phonology are Ordered: Evidence from a New Universal, The 27th Manchester Phonology Meeting, University of Manchester, May 25–27, 2019.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2019. A Candidate for a Universal Constraint on the Interaction of Phonological Processes. Talk, Micro-Workshop on Accent, Leipzig University, January 29, 2019.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2019. Feeding-Duke-of-York Derivations in Arabic and Their Architectural Consequences. Talk, OCP 2019, University of Verona, January 16–18, 2019.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2018. Morphosyntactic Structure Reveals Stress Universals in Nanti. Talk, NELS 2018, Cornell University, October 5–7, 2018.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2017. The Stress-Encapsulation Universal and Phonological Modularity. Rutgers University, November 17, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer, Iddo Berger, Nur Lan, and Roni Katzir. 2017. Rule-based Learning of Phonological Optionality and Opacity. Talk, NELS 2017, University of Iceland, October 27–29, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer and Roni Katzir. 2017. Learning Abstract URs from Distributional Evidence. Poster, NELS 2017, University of Iceland, October 27–29, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2017. Information Encapsulation and the Architecture of Phonology. Stony Brook University, October 6, 2017.
• Hirsch, Aron and Ezer Rasin. 2017. An Evolutionary Effect of Simplicity Bias on the Typology of Logical Operators. Poster, MIT Workshop on Simplicity in Grammar Learning, MIT, September 23, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer and Roni Katzir. 2017. Minimum Description Length Subsumes Free Ride Effects in UR Learning. Poster, AMP 2017, NYU, September 15–17, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer, Iddo Berger, Nur Lan, and Roni Katzir. 2017. Acquiring Opaque Phonological Interactions Using Minimum Description Length. Poster, AMP 2017, NYU, September 15–17, 2017.
• Bassi, Itai and Ezer Rasin. 2017. Intensional-Functional Relative Clauses with Syntactic Reconstruction. Talk, Sinn und Bedeutung 22, University of Potsdam, September 7–10, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2017. An Argument for Severing Stress from Phonology. Colloquium, Tel Aviv University, June 29, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2017. An Argument for Severing Stress from Phonology. Colloquium, Leipzig University, May 24, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2017. The Stress-Encapsulation Universal and Phonological Modularity. Talk, GLOW 2017, Leiden University, March 14–17, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2017. Predictions of a Phonological Architecture with Stress Encapsulation. Talk, The Interface Within Workshop, GLOW 2017, Meertens Institute, March 13, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer and Athulya Aravind. 2017. The Nature of the Semantic Stimulus: Quantifier Learning as a Case Study. LFRG, MIT, March 1, 2017.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2016. Resumptive Pronouns Across Components: Evidence from Hebrew. Poster, NELS 47, UMass Amherst, October 14–16, 2016.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2016. The Stress-Encapsulation Universal and Phonological Modularity. Talk, NAPhC 9, Concordia University, May 7–8, 2016.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2015. Phonological Architecture and Blocking in Nonderived Environments. Poster, NELS 46, Concordia University, October 16–18, 2015.
• Rasin, Ezer. 2015. Constraints on Underlying Representations and Blocking in Nonderived Environments. Poster, AMP 2015, UBC, October 9–11, 2015.
• Rasin, Ezer and Roni Katzir. 2014. A Learnability Argument for Constraints on Underlying Representations. Poster, NELS 45, MIT, October 31-November 2, 2014.
• Rasin, Ezer and  Roni Katzir. 2013. An Evaluation Metric for Optimality Theory. NECPhon 2013, MIT, October 26, 2013.
• Rasin, Ezer and  Roni Katzir. 2013. An Evaluation Metric for Optimality Theory. LLCC Seminar, HUJI, May 21, 2013.

Regularly taught:

• 0627.1010 Introduction to Linguistics
• 0627.1022 Beginning Phonology
• 0627.4067 Advanced Phoonlogy Opacity and Phonological Architecture
• 0627.3641 The Phonology-Morphology Interface
• 0627.4069 Computational Phonology