The Sound Pattern of English (SPE) is a work in phonology by linguists Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle, originally published in 1968. As the first exposition of the framework of generative phonology, it was the authoritative text of the field for most phonologists in the decade following its publication. In SPE, Chomsky and Halle present a view of phonology as a component of generative grammar, alongside syntax and semantics.