AbstractHow do rhythmic patterns in speech arise? There are many representational frameworks for describing rhythmic patterns, but none of these directly connect representations to articulatory processes, which have physical manifestations in the acoustic signal. Here, a new model of speech rhythm is presented, one in which rhythmic patterns arise from spatial mechanisms that govern the organization of articulatory gestures. The roles of time and space in symbolic representations of the metrical structure are analyzed, and conventional understandings of stress and accent are called into question. One aspect of rhythmic patterns, in particular—the directionality of accentual patterns—is examined closely. A novel dynamical model is developed, which proposes a reinterpretation of directionality and other temporal phenomena in speech.