Elicitation and application of a phonetic description of the General Service List

This paper reports on a study designed to transcribe and analyze the 2284 General Service List (GSL) words. We discuss the extent to which this list of words is representative of certain aspects of the phonetics of the English language. In particular, we ask whether GSL words contain instances of all vowel and consonant segments present in the language and whether there are sufficient phonemic contrasts to deduce these segments independently from the entire lexicon. We also look into syllable structure and phonotactics by analyzing the onset and coda consonant clusters present in the words that constitute the GSL. The data presented suggest that, in addition to lexical coverage, the General Service List also exhibits comprehensive phonetic coverage of the English language and, therefore, concrete potential for pronunciation training.