:Archiphoneme:

Pronunciation GB: ˈɑːkiˌfəʊniːm, GA: ˈɑːrkiˌfoʊniːm

A term particularly associated with the Prague School of Phonology. An archiphoneme is a phonological unit which expresses the common features of two or more phonemes which are involved in a neutralisation. For example, the difference between t and d is neutralised in word-final position in German. In a phonological representation using the archiphoneme concept, the final sounds of words like Rad, gesund would be transcribed with the symbol /T/ in final position. This symbol represents an alveolar plosive archiphoneme which is unspecified for voicing. For more information see neutralisation.


Reference: Trubetskoy N.(1939) Grundzüge der Phonologie. Travaux du Cercle Linguistique de Prague, VII.