The International Phonetic Alphabet
by Ozzie Osband, N4SCY@amsat.org
Titusville Amateur Radio Club, Titusville, FL
It's useful to
know the International Phonetic Alphabet. It makes use of words that
are not necessarily English in origin (Tango from Argentina, and
Zulu from Africa for example), and the pronunciations given lean towards
people who do not use English as their native language.
Emphasis should be put on the indicated syllables.
While many Veterans in the group will recognize this as the "Military Phonetic
Alphabet", it was originally issued by the
International Civil Aviation
Organization, the United Nations
specialized agency that coordinates
aviation standards around the world. This phonetic alphabet has also
been adopted by another UN specialized agency, the
International
Telecommunications Union, which sets standards (called
Reccommendations)
for telephone and radio communications around the world.
You'll want to know the phonetic alphabet if you plan to fly aircraft, spacecraft, or just
"work" radios or mobile phones where the signal might be a bit "scratchy", and you need a way to spell out words
over the air.
| A | ALFA | (AL FAH) | | N | NOVEMBER | (NO VEM BER) | | Number Pronunciations |
|---|
| B | BRAVO | (BRAH VOH) | O | OSCAR | (OSS CAH) | 1 | Won
|
| C | CHARLIE | (CHAR LEE) | P | PAPA | (PAH PAH) | 2 | Too |
| D | DELTA | (DELL TAH) | Q | QUEBEC | (KEH BECK) | 3 | Tree |
| E | ECHO | (ECK OH) | R | ROMEO | (ROW ME OH) | 4 | Fower |
| F | FOXTROT | (FOKS TROT) | S | SIERRA | (SEE AIR RAH) | 5 | Fife |
| G | GOLF | (GOLF) | T | TANGO | (TANG GO) | 6 | Six |
| H | HOTEL | (HOH TELL) | U | UNIFORM | (YOU NEE FORM) | 7 | Seven |
| I | INDIA | (IN DEE AH) | V | VICTOR | (VIK TAH) | 8 | Ait |
| J | JULIETT | (JEW LEE ETT) | W | WHISKEY | (WISS KEY) | 9 | Nine er |
| K | KILO | (KEY LOH) | X | X-RAY | (ECKS RAY) | 0 | Zay Row |
| L | LIMA | (LEE MAH) | Y | YANKEE | (YANG KEY) | . | De Si Mal |
| M | MIKE | (MIKE) | Z | ZULU | (ZOO LOO) | |
