LinguaLens: Towards Interpreting Linguistic Mechanisms of Large Language Models via Sparse Auto-Encoder

ACL ARR 2025 May Submission6924 Authors

Abstract: Large language models (LLMs) demonstrate exceptional performance on tasks requiring complex linguistic abilities, such as reference disambiguation and metaphor recognition/generation. Although LLMs possess impressive capabilities, their internal mechanisms for processing and representing linguistic knowledge remain largely opaque. Prior research on linguistic mechanisms is limited by coarse granularity, limited analysis scale, and narrow focus. In this study, we propose LinguaLens, a systematic and comprehensive framework for analyzing the linguistic mechanisms of large language models, based on Sparse Auto-Encoders (SAEs). We extract a broad set of Chinese and English linguistic features across four dimensions—morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. By employing counterfactual methods, we construct a large‐scale counterfactual dataset of linguistic features for mechanism analysis. Our findings reveal intrinsic representations of linguistic knowledge in LLMs, uncover patterns of cross‐layer and cross‐lingual distribution, and demonstrate the potential to control model outputs. This work provides a systematic suite of resources and methods for studying linguistic mechanisms, offers strong evidence that LLMs possess genuine linguistic knowledge, and lays the foundation for more interpretable and controllable language modeling in future research.

Paper Type: Long

Research Area: Interpretability and Analysis of Models for NLP

Research Area Keywords: feature attribution

Contribution Types: Model analysis & interpretability, Data resources

Languages Studied: English, Chinese

Submission Number: 6924