PrevNet. A FAIR and inclusive resource for the study of preverbs in historical languages

TY - CHAP

T1 - PrevNet. A FAIR and inclusive resource for the study of preverbs in historical languages

AU - Farina, Andrea

AU - McGillivray, Barbara

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - The digitization of Classical texts and the development of corpus and computational methods has revolutionized the study of Ancient Greek and Latin. Despite their profound impact on verb semantics and syntax, preverbs (prefixes attaching to verbal bases, cf. It. circum- in circumnavigare ‘sail around’) lack a dedicated digital resource; PrevNet addresses this need with a focus on Ancient Greek and Latin preverbs and motion verbs. It combines digital humanities methodologies with insights from historical and cognitive linguistics, and socio-cultural studies to explore how these ancient languages conceptualized movement, space, and reality. Based on a manually annotated dataset of 35 texts (500,000+ tokens) from multiple genres and periods (8th century BCE – 2nd century CE), PrevNet systematically captures the meanings and functions of preverbed motion verbs, facilitating linguistic and cultural analysis. Designed as an inclusive FAIR resource, it serves diverse audiences across Classics, Linguistics, and Digital Humanities, while also addressing various educational levels, from high school to academia. The resource enables cross-linguistic comparison, promotes accessibility to digital tools, and advances the study of linguistic diversity and cultural thought in the ancient Mediterranean. PrevNet demonstrates the transformative potential of digital humanities to bridge gaps between disciplines, democratize knowledge, and support underrepresented audiences in research and education.

AB - The digitization of Classical texts and the development of corpus and computational methods has revolutionized the study of Ancient Greek and Latin. Despite their profound impact on verb semantics and syntax, preverbs (prefixes attaching to verbal bases, cf. It. circum- in circumnavigare ‘sail around’) lack a dedicated digital resource; PrevNet addresses this need with a focus on Ancient Greek and Latin preverbs and motion verbs. It combines digital humanities methodologies with insights from historical and cognitive linguistics, and socio-cultural studies to explore how these ancient languages conceptualized movement, space, and reality. Based on a manually annotated dataset of 35 texts (500,000+ tokens) from multiple genres and periods (8th century BCE – 2nd century CE), PrevNet systematically captures the meanings and functions of preverbed motion verbs, facilitating linguistic and cultural analysis. Designed as an inclusive FAIR resource, it serves diverse audiences across Classics, Linguistics, and Digital Humanities, while also addressing various educational levels, from high school to academia. The resource enables cross-linguistic comparison, promotes accessibility to digital tools, and advances the study of linguistic diversity and cultural thought in the ancient Mediterranean. PrevNet demonstrates the transformative potential of digital humanities to bridge gaps between disciplines, democratize knowledge, and support underrepresented audiences in research and education.

KW - preverbs

KW - Classical languages

KW - motion verbs

KW - FAIR principles

KW - online resources

M3 - Conference paper

SP - 2

EP - 10

BT - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Challenges and Opportunities for Digital Humanities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Proceedings del XIV Convegno Annuale AIUCD, Verona 11-13 giugno 2025, Università di Verona

A2 - Rebora, Simone

A2 - Rospocher, Marco

A2 - Bazzaco, Stefano

ER -