In this target paper, Hickok proposes a hierarchical state feedback control (HSFC) model of speech production in an attempt to integrate a range of theoretical and empirical works coming from psycholinguistic, motor control, neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience. While we find much to like about the HSFC model, we will focus in this commentary on one important piece of disagreement, namely, its conceptual view on the nature and control of phoneme in speech production.