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archiphoneme

[ ahr-kuh-foh-neem, ahr-kuh-foh-neem ]

noun

, Linguistics.
  1. an abstract phonological unit consisting of the distinctive features common to two phonemes that differ only in that one has a distinctive feature lacking in the other. The archiphoneme is said to be realized when in a certain position an otherwise phonemic opposition is neutralized; thus, in German, while p and b are separate phonemes differing only in the distinctive feature of voicing, in final position the voicing or unvoicing of the labial stop is nondistinctive, and the p- sound of leib “body” may be called the realization of the archiphoneme.
  2. such a unit occurring in a position where the contrast between two or more phonemes is neutralized.


archiphoneme

/ ˌɑːkɪˈfəʊniːm; ˈɑːkɪˌfəʊniːm /

noun

  1. phonetics an abstract linguistic unit representing two or more phonemes when the distinction between these has been neutralized: conventionally shown by a capital letter within slashes, as /T/ for /t/ and /d/ in German Rat and Rad
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of archiphoneme1

1935–40; < German Archiphonem or < French archiphonème, term first used by R. Jakobson in 1929; archi-, phoneme

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Archipenkoarchiplasm