AbstractThe intent of this article is to examine the words common to and the phonic characteristics of three basic sight‐word vocabulary lists. The lists vary in age dating from the 1940's to the 1970's. One, the Dolch is the most highly recognized by teachers at the elementary grade levels. The lists were selected because they cover a broad span of time, are highly representative of basic sight‐word lists and are recognizable.Careful examination of the pronunciation guides for the words using the New College Edition of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language reveals that 137 of a total of 334 words are one hundred percent phonically consistent. Of the remaining 197 words, many are common exceptions to a rule but have the same sound such as “s” having a “z” sound. Many of the words follow a phonic rule; however, the number of words related to the rule is small. Actually, phonic analysis could be used on many of these words. Of the 334 total words on the three lists, 133 are common to all three lists.