@inproceedings{monterosso-2026-cross,
    title = "Cross-linguistic Geometry of Adjective Representations in Multilingual Transformers: Semantic Class, Gradability, and Positional Effects.",
    author = "Monterosso, Tancredi",
    editor = "Bernard, Timoth{\'e}e  and
      Chersoni, Emmanuele  and
      Rambelli, Giulia",
    booktitle = "Proceedings of the Third Workshop on the Bridges and Gaps between Formal and Computational Linguistics ({B}ri{G}ap-3)",
    month = jul,
    year = "2026",
    address = "Paris, France",
    publisher = "Association for Computational Linguistics",
    url = "https://preview.aclanthology.org/ingest-brigap/2026.brigap-1.3/",
    pages = "22--30",
    ISBN = "XXX-X-XXXXXX-XX-X",
    abstract = "In this study, we examine whether multilingual contextual embeddings encode properties of adjectives that are theoretically relevant to formal analyses of nominal modification. Using Universal Dependencies corpora for Arabic, English, and Italian, we extract contextualized adjective embeddings from the multilingual XLM-RoBERTa model and analyze them with respect to (i) semantic classes, (ii) the distinction between relational and descriptive adjectives, (iii) the distinction between gradable and non-gradable adjectives, and (iv) prenominal versus postnominal position in Italian. Our results indicate that adjective representations are organized in a shared multilingual space, but that this space is not best accounted for by a rigidly aligned universal hierarchy of semantic classes. Rather, the most salient organizing dimensions correspond to broader semantic-syntactic contrasts, in particular the relational/descriptive opposition, gradability, and, in the case of Italian, position-conditioned variation."
}