PhiloBERTA: A Transformer-Based Cross-Lingual Analysis of Greek and
  Latin Lexicons
Authors: name: Rumi A. Allbert; name: Makai L. Allbert
Published: 2025-03-07 09:30:16

Abstract: We present PhiloBERTA, a cross-lingual transformer model that measures
semantic relationships between ancient Greek and Latin lexicons. Through
analysis of selected term pairs from classical texts, we use contextual
embeddings and angular similarity metrics to identify precise semantic
alignments. Our results show that etymologically related pairs demonstrate
significantly higher similarity scores, particularly for abstract philosophical
concepts such as epist\=em\=e (scientia) and dikaiosyn\=e (iustitia).
Statistical analysis reveals consistent patterns in these relationships (p =
0.012), with etymologically related pairs showing remarkably stable semantic
preservation compared to control pairs. These findings establish a quantitative
framework for examining how philosophical concepts moved between Greek and
Latin traditions, offering new methods for classical philological research.