Preferenze per il rango del predicato nelle subordinate in russo L2 e universali tipologici

The hypothesis that ontogenesis follows phylogenesis was proposed with regard to the relationship between language acquisition and linguistic typology. As a means of verification, typological universals have been compared with patterns of acquisition. In this article, I will assess the validity of the proposed hypothesis within my corpus of adult second language acquisition and the phenomenon of predicate deranking. First, I will examine the two morphological strategies of subordination expression: balancing and deranking. Balancing keeps the rank of the predicate of the subordinated clause high and deranking lowers it. I will, then, review the typological implicational universals of predicate deranking, which requires functional definitions of subordination and sub- ordination types, applicable to any language and to the learner varieties. Consequently, the typological deranking hierarchies for each type of subordinate clause will be ex- posed. Finally, I will present the patterns of the deranking acquisition order observed in my corpus of written descriptions of several episodes of a mute film in Russian L2, spoken by italophones. I will, thereby, suggest an analysis of the extent to which the typological universals match the patterns of acquisition in the examined case.