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

Word History and Origins

Origin of archiphoneme¹

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