archiphoneme
|ar-chi-pho-neme|
🇺🇸
/ˌɑɹ.kɪˈfoʊ.niːm/
🇬🇧
/ˌɑː.kɪˈfəʊ.niːm/
abstract neutralized phoneme
Etymology
'archiphoneme' originates from Greek, specifically the elements 'archi-' and 'phōnēma', where 'archi-' meant 'chief, principal' and 'phōnēma' meant 'sound'.
'archiphoneme' was coined in modern linguistic literature (20th century) by combining the Greek-derived prefix 'archi-' with 'phoneme' (from Greek 'phōnēma'), and it became established as the modern English technical term 'archiphoneme'.
Initially, it denoted the specially coined technical term for an abstract unit representing neutralized contrasts; over time this technical meaning has remained stable within phonological theory.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
an abstract phonological unit that represents a set of phonemes whose distinctive features have been neutralized in a given context (used to describe neutralized contrasts in phonology).
In the analysis of final obstruents, the voiced and voiceless variants are often represented by a single archiphoneme.
Synonyms
Last updated: 2025/10/07 07:32