Acquisition of Russian Comparison Constructions: Semantics meets first language acquisition

This paper brings together insights from cross-linguistic research on grammatical variation in comparison constructions (Beck et al. 2009), first language acquisition and the 'standard analysis' of comparison constructions based on von Stechow (1984), Heim (2001) and Beck (2011). The cross-linguistic parameters make predictions for the acquisition of Russian comparison constructions. I worked out the order of their acquisition based on predictions made by the theory and specific characteristics of Russian degree constructions. I tested the predictions against a longitudinal corpus of two bilingual children. An unexpected result is the late acquisition of all evaluative degree constructions but the positive.