Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter focuses on the acquisition of the tripartite grammatical gender systems of Slavic languages, which share similar properties but differ with respect to their realization. Their discussion highlights the role of the transparency, frequency, and regularity of morphophonological gender cues as well as the complexities of the interaction between gender and case, number, definiteness, and animacy. The documented impact of these categories on the trajectory of gender acquisition in monolingual and bilingual children and adults is thoroughly analyzed. Viewed through the lenses of different theoretical proposals, this vast body of scholarship helps illuminate the shift from deficit-based explanations of language learning to a more targeted study of learnability principles and processing routines. The chapter adopts a broader cross-linguistic perspective on the acquisition of gender in Slavic languages, drawing parallels between stable and vulnerable gender properties in individual bilingualism and in language-contact situations.</jats:p>