Abstract
Phonological theories provide macroscopic descriptions of order in speech, but have not given much attention to how those descriptions might be derived from the relatively microscopic dynamics of the nervous system. This paper proposes a microscopically inspired theory of phonological organization in which the systems that govern articulatory actions (gesturals) are composed of internal subsystems (gestural excitations). In the preparation of speech, gestural excitations can transiently couple (phase- and frequency-lock) to a generic set of oscillatory coordination modes. In the execution of speech, a feedback-regulated competitive selection process gives coordination modes heightened activation, causing coupled gestural excitations to exert strong influences on control of the vocal tract. Phonological organization in speech preparation is conceptualized as a stochastic process in which gestural excitations couple to coordination modes, governed by probabilities derived from hypothesized constraints. The framework is used to interpret segmental, moraic, syllabic, metrical, and prosodic word-related patterns.