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NATO phonetic alphabet

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FAA radiotelephony alphabet and Morse code chart
ICAO phonetic alphabet
voice recording: ICAO phonetic alphabet
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The NATO phonetic alphabet, officially denoted as the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, and also commonly known as the ICAO phonetic alphabet, and in a variation also known officially as the ITU phonetic alphabet and figure code, is the most widely used radiotelephone spelling alphabet. Although often called "phonetic alphabets", spelling alphabets are unrelated to phonetic transcription systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet. Instead, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) alphabet assigned codewords acrophonically to the letters of the English alphabet, so that critical combinations of letters and numbers are most likely to be pronounced and understood by those who exchange voice messages by radio or telephone, regardless of language differences or the quality of the communication channel.[1]

The 26 code words in the NATO phonetic alphabet are assigned to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order as follows: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.[2]

Strict adherence to the prescribed spelling words is required in order to avoid the problems of confusion that the spelling alphabet is designed to overcome. As noted in a 1955 NATO memo,

It is known that [the ICAO spelling alphabet] has been prepared only after the most exhaustive tests on a scientific basis by several nations. One of the firmest conclusions reached was that it was not practical to make an isolated change to clear confusion between one pair of letters. To change one word involves reconsideration of the whole alphabet to ensure that the change proposed to clear one confusion does not itself introduce others.[3]

The same memo notes a potential confusion between ZERO and SIERRA is overcome when following the procedures in ACP 125, which specify the use of the procedure word FIGURES in many instances in which digits need to be read.[3]

International adoption

After the phonetic alphabet was developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)[4] (see history below) it was adopted by many other international and national organizations, including the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United States Federal Government (as Federal Standard 1037C: Glossary of Telecommunications Terms,[5] and its successor ANSI T1.523-2001, ATIS Telecom Glossary,[6] both of which cite Joint Publication 1-02: Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms,[7] but incorrectly "correct" the spelling of alfa and juliett) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO); and by many military organizations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the now-defunct Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).

The same alphabetic code words are used by all agencies, but each agency chooses one of two different sets of numeric code words. NATO uses the regular English numeric words (Zero, One, with some alternative pronunciations), whereas the ITU (beginning on April 1, 1969[8]) and the IMO define compound numeric words (Nadazero, Unaone, Bissotwo...). In practice these are used very rarely, as they frequently result in confusion between speakers of different languages.

Usage

A spelling alphabet is used to spell parts of a message containing letters and numbers to avoid confusion, because many letters sound similar, for instance "n" and "m" or "f" and "s"; the potential for confusion increases if static or other interference is present. For instance the message "proceed to map grid DH98" could be transmitted as "proceed to map grid Delta-Hotel-Niner-Ait". Using "Delta" instead of "D" avoids confusion between "DH98" and "BH98" or "TH98". The unusual pronunciation of certain numbers was designed to reduce confusion.

In addition to the traditional military usage, civilian industry uses the alphabet to avoid similar problems in the transmission of messages by telephone systems. For example, it is often used in the retail industry where customer or site details are spoken by telephone (to authorize a credit agreement or confirm stock codes), although ad hoc coding is often used in that instance. It has been used often by information technology workers to communicate serial/reference codes (which are often very long) or other specialised information by voice. Most major airlines use the alphabet to communicate Passenger Name Records (PNRs) internally, and in some cases, with customers. It is often used in a medical context as well, to avoid confusion when transmitting information.

Several letter codes and abbreviations using the spelling alphabet have become well-known, such as Bravo Zulu (letter code BZ) for "well done",[9] Checkpoint Charlie (Checkpoint C) in Berlin, and Zulu Time for Greenwich Mean Time or Coordinated Universal Time. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. government referred to the Viet Cong guerrillas and the group itself as VC, or Victor Charlie; the name "Charlie" became synonymous with this force.

Pronunciation of code words

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The final choice of code words for the letters of the alphabet and for the digits was made after hundreds of thousands of comprehension tests involving 31 nationalities. The qualifying feature was the likelihood of a code word being understood in the context of others. For example, football has a higher chance of being understood than foxtrot in isolation, but foxtrot is superior in extended communication.[10]

The pronunciation of the code words varies according to the language habits of the speaker. To eliminate wide variations in pronunciation, recordings and posters illustrating the pronunciation desired by the ICAO are available.[10][11] However, there are still differences in pronunciation between the ICAO and other agencies, and the ICAO has conflicting Latin-alphabet and IPA transcriptions. Also, although all codes for the letters of the alphabet are English words, they are not in general given English pronunciations.

Pronunciations are somewhat uncertain because the agencies, while ostensibly using the same pronunciations, give different transcriptions, which are often inconsistent from letter to letter. The ICAO gives a different pronunciation for IPA transcription and for respelling, and the FAA also gives different pronunciations depending on the publication consulted, the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual (§ 4-2-7), the FAA Flight Services manual (§ 14.1.5), or the ATC manual (§ 2-4-16). ATIS gives English spellings, but does not give pronunciations or numbers. The ICAO, NATO, and FAA use modifications of English numerals, with stress on one syllable, while the ITU and IMO compound pseudo-Latinate numerals with a slightly different set of modified English numerals, and with stress on each syllable. Numbers 10–99 are spelled out (that is, 17 is spoken "WUN SEV-EN" and 60 is spoken "SIX ZERO"), while for hundreds and thousands the English words hundred and thousand are used.[12][11][13][14][15][16]

The pronunciation of the digits 3, 4, 5, and 9 differs from standard English – being pronounced tree, fower, fife, and niner. The digit 3 is specified as tree so that it is not pronounced sri; the long pronunciation of 4 (still found in some English dialects) keeps it somewhat distinct from for; 5 is pronounced with a second "f" because the normal pronunciation with a "v" is easily confused with "fire" (a command to shoot); and 9 has an extra syllable to keep it distinct from German nein 'no'.[citation needed]

Only the ICAO prescribes pronunciation with the IPA, and then only for letters.[11] Several of the pronunciations indicated are slightly modified from their normal English pronunciations: [ˈælfa, ˈbraːˈvo, ˈdeltɑ, ɡʌlf, ˈliːmɑ, ˈɔskɑ, siˈerɑ, ˈtænɡo, ˈuːnifɔrm, ˈviktɑ, ˈjænki], partially due to the substitution of final schwas with the [ɑ] vowel. Both the IPA and respelled pronunciations were developed by the ICAO before 1956 with advice from the governments of both the United States and United Kingdom,[17] so the pronunciations of both General American English and British Received Pronunciation are evident, especially in the rhotic and non-rhotic accents. The respelled version is usually at least consistent with a rhotic accent ('r' pronounced), as in CHAR LEE, SHAR LEE, NO VEM BER, YOU NEE FORM, and OO NEE FORM, whereas the IPA version usually specifies a non-rhotic accent ('r' pronounced only before a vowel), as in [ˈtʃɑːli], [ˈʃɑːli], [noˈvembə], and [ˈjuːnifɔːm]. Exceptions are OSS CAH, VIK TAH and ˈuːnifɔrm. The IPA form of Golf implies it is pronounced gulf, which is neither General American English nor British Received Pronunciation. Different agencies assign different stress patterns to Bravo, Hotel, Juliett, November, Papa, X-ray; the ICAO has different stresses for Bravo, Juliett, X-ray in its respelled and IPA transcriptions. Furthermore, the pronunciation prescribed for whiskey begins the voiced [w], although some speakers use the voiceless [ʍ] here, particularly in Scotland and Ireland (wine–whine distinction).

Also, the ITU and IMO specify a different pronunciation of numerals than does the ICAO, using compound words combining the English word with either a Spanish or Latin prefix.[18] However, as of 2002, the IMO's GMDSS procedures permit the use of the ICAO numeral pronunciation.[19]

Symbol Code word Conflicting accounts of the pronunciation
ICAO 2008
IPA convention[20] 		ICAO 2008 respelling[20] ITU-R 2007 (WRC-07) respelling[13] IMO respelling[citation needed] FAA
respelling[14][15] 		SIA[21]
(France aeronautical) 		1957 U.S. Navy respelling[22] NATO & U.S. Army
respelling[23]
A Alfa ˈælfa AL FAH AL FAH AL FAH ALFAH or
AL-FAH 		al fah AL fåh AL fah
B Bravo ˈbraːˈvo BRAH VOH BRAH VOH BRAH VOH
(1955: BRAH VOH) 		BRAHVOH or
BRAH-VO 		bra vo BRÄH VŌH BRAH voh
C Charlie ˈtʃɑːli or
ˈʃɑːli 		CHAR LEE or SHAR LEE CHAR LEE or SHAR LEE CHAR LEE CHARLEE or
CHAR-LEE 		tchah li,
char li 		CHÄR LĒĒ CHAR lee
D Delta ˈdeltɑ DELL TAH DELL TAH DELL TAH DELLTAH or
DELL-TAH 		del tah DĒLL tåh DEL tah
E Echo ˈeko ECK OH ECK OH ECK OH ECKOH or
ECK-OH 		èk o ĒCK ōh EKK oh
F Foxtrot ˈfɔkstrɔt FOKS TROT FOKS TROT FOKS TROT FOKSTROT or
FOKS-TROT 		fox trott FŎKS trŏt FOKS trot
G Golf ɡʌlf GOLF GOLF GOLF GOLF golf GŎLF Golf
H Hotel hoːˈtel HO TELL HOH TELL HOH TELL HOHTELL or
HOH-TELL 		ho tèll hōh TĒLL HO tell
I India ˈindi.ɑ IN DEE AH IN DEE AH IN DEE AH INDEE AH or
IN-DEE-AH 		in di ah ÏN dēē åh IN dee ah
J Juliett ˈdʒuːli.ˈet JEW LEE ETT JEW LEE ETT JEW LEE ETT JEWLEE ETT or
JEW-LEE-ETT 		djou li ètt JEW lēē ĒTT JEW lee ett
K Kilo ˈkiːlo KEY LOH KEY LOH KEY LOH KEYLOH or
KEY-LOH 		ki lo KĒY lōh KEY loh
L Lima ˈliːmɑ LEE MAH LEE MAH LEE MAH LEEMAH or
LEE-MAH 		li mah LĒĒ måh LEE mah
M Mike mɑik MIKE MIKE MIKE MIKE maïk MĪKE Mike
N November noˈvembə NO VEM BER NO VEM BER NO VEM BER NOVEMBER or
NO-VEM-BER 		no vèmm ber nō VEM bēr NOH vem ber
O Oscar ˈɔskɑ OSS CAH OSS CAH OSS CAH OSS-SCAR or
OSS-CAR 		oss kar ŌSS cåh OSS car
P Papa pəˈpɑ PAH PAH PAH PAH PAH PAH PAHPAH or
PAH-PAH 		pah pah påh PÄH PAH pah
Q Quebec keˈbek KEH BECK KEH BECK KEH BECK KEHBECK or

KWUH-BECK

ké bèk kēh BĒCK keh BECK
R Romeo ˈroːmi.o ROW ME OH ROW ME OH ROW ME OH ROWME OH or
ROW-ME-OH 		ro mi o ROW mē ōh ROW me oh
S Sierra siˈerɑ SEE AIR RAH SEE AIR RAH SEE AIR RAH SEEAIRAH or
SEE-AIR-AH 		si èr rah sēē ÄIRråh see AIR ah
T Tango ˈtænɡo TANG GO TANG GO TANG GO TANGGO or
TANG-GO 		tang go TĀNG gō TANG go
U Uniform ˈjuːnifɔːm or
ˈuːnifɔrm 		YOU NEE FORM or OO NEE FORM YOU NEE FORM or
OO NEE FORM 		YOU NEE FORM or
OO NEE FORM 		YOUNEE FORM or
YOU-NEE-FORM or
OO-NEE-FORM 		you ni form,
ou ni form 		YOU nēē fôrm YOU nee form
V Victor ˈviktɑ VIK TAH VIK TAH VIK TAH VIKTAH or
VIK-TAR 		vik tar VĬK tåh VIK ter
W Whiskey ˈwiski WISS KEY WISS KEY WISS KEY WISSKEY or
WISS-KEY 		ouiss ki WĬSS kēy WISS key
X X-ray ˈeksˈrei ECKS RAY ECKS RAY ECKS RAY ECKSRAY [sic] or
ECKS-RAY 		èkss ré ĒCKS rāy EKS ray
Y Yankee ˈjænki YANG KEY YANG KEY YANG KEY YANGKEY [sic] or
YANG-KEY 		yang ki YĀNG KĒY YANG kee
Z Zulu ˈzuːluː ZOO LOO ZOO LOO ZOO LOO ZOOLOO or
ZOO-LOO 		zou lou ZŌŌ lōō ZOO luu
0 Zero ZE-RO NAH-DAH-ZAY-ROH NADAZERO Zero zi ro ZE-RO
1 One WUN OO-NAH-WUN UNAONE One ouann WUN; Won (USMC)[24]
2 Two TOO BEES-SOH-TOO BISSOTWO Two tou TOO
3 Three TREE TAY-RAH-TREE TERRATHREE Three tri TREE
4 Four FOW-er KAR-TAY-FOWER KARTEFOUR Four fo eur FOW-ER
5 Five FIFE PAN-TAH-FIVE PANTAFIVE Five fa ïf FIFE
6 Six SIX SOK-SEE-SIX SOXISIX Six siks SIX
7 Seven SEV-en SAY-TAY-SEVEN SETTESEVEN Seven sèv n SEV-EN
8 Eight AIT OK-TOH-AIT OKTOEIGHT Eight eït AIT
9 Nine NIN-er NO-VAY-NINER NOVENINE Niner naï neu NIN-ER
. (decimal point) Decimal point DAY-SEE-MAL POINT dè si mal DAY-SEE-MAL (ITU)
100 Hundred HUN-dred hun-dred
1000 Thousand TOU-SAND taou zend TOU-SAND
- (hyphen) Dash
. (full stop) Period STOP (ITU)

History

Prior to World War I and the development and widespread adoption of two-way radio that supported voice, telephone spelling alphabets were developed to improve communication on low-quality and long-distance telephone circuits.

The first non-military internationally recognized spelling alphabet was adopted by the CCIR (predecessor of the ITU) during 1927. The experience gained with that alphabet resulted in several changes being made during 1932 by the ITU. The resulting alphabet was adopted by the International Commission for Air Navigation, the predecessor of the ICAO, and was used for civil aviation until World War II.[17] It continued to be used by the IMO until 1965.

Throughout World War II, many nations used their own versions of a spelling alphabet. The U.S. adopted the Joint Army/Navy radiotelephony alphabet during 1941 to standardize systems among all branches of its armed forces. The U.S. alphabet became known as Able Baker after the words for A and B. The Royal Air Force adopted one similar to the United States one during World War II as well. Other British forces adopted the RAF radio alphabet, which is similar to the phonetic alphabet used by the Royal Navy during World War I. At least two of the terms are sometimes still used by UK civilians to spell words over the phone, namely F for Freddie and S for Sugar.

To enable the U.S., UK, and Australian armed forces to communicate during joint operations, in 1943 the CCB (Combined Communications Board; the combination of US and UK upper military commands) modified the U.S. military's Joint Army/Navy alphabet for use by all three nations, with the result being called the US-UK spelling alphabet. It was defined in one or more of CCBP-1: Combined Amphibious Communications Instructions, CCBP3: Combined Radiotelephone (R/T) Procedure, and CCBP-7: Combined Communication Instructions. The CCB alphabet itself was based on the U.S. Joint Army/Navy spelling alphabet. The CCBP (Combined Communications Board Publications) documents contain material formerly published in U.S. Army Field Manuals in the 24-series. Several of these documents had revisions, and were renamed. For instance, CCBP3-2 was the second edition of CCBP3.

During World War II, the U.S. military conducted significant research into spelling alphabets. Major F. D. Handy, directorate of Communications in the Army Air Force (and a member of the working committee of the Combined Communications Board), enlisted the help of Harvard University's Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, asking them to determine the most successful word for each letter when using "military interphones in the intense noise encountered in modern warfare.". He included lists from the USA, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, British Army, AT&T, Western Union, RCA Communications, and that of the International Telecommunications Convention. According to a report on the subject,

The results showed that many of the words in the military lists had a low level of intelligibility, but that most of the deficiencies could be remedied by the judicious selection of words from the commercial codes and those tested by the laboratory. In a few instances where none of the 250 words could be regarded as especially satisfactory, it was believed possible to discover suitable replacements. Other words were tested and the most intelligible ones were compared with the more desirable lists. A final NDRC list was assembled and recommended to the CCB.[25]

After World War II, with many aircraft and ground personnel from the allied armed forces, "Able Baker" was officially adopted for use in international aviation. During the 1946 Second Session of the ICAO Communications Division, the organization adopted the so-called "Able Baker" alphabet[26] that was the 1943 US–UK spelling alphabet. But many sounds were unique to English, so an alternative "Ana Brazil" alphabet was used in Latin America. But the International Air Transport Association (IATA), recognizing the need for a single universal alphabet, presented a draft alphabet to the ICAO during 1947 that had sounds common to English, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

From 1948–1949, Jean-Paul Vinay, a professor of linguistics at the Université de Montréal worked closely with the ICAO to research and develop a new spelling alphabet.[27][28] ICAO's directions to him were that "To be considered, a word must:

  1. Be a live word in each of the three working languages.
  2. Be easily pronounced and recognized by airman of all languages.
  3. Have good radio transmission and readability characteristics.
  4. Have a similar spelling in at least English, French, and Spanish, and the initial letter must be the letter the word identifies.
  5. Be free from any association with objectionable meanings."[25]

After further study and modification by each approving body, the revised alphabet was adopted on 1 November 1951, to become effective on 1 April 1952 for civil aviation (but it may not have been adopted by any military).[17]

Problems were soon found with this list. Some users believed that they were so severe that they reverted to the old "Able Baker" alphabet. Confusion among words like Delta and Extra, and between Nectar and Victor, or the unintelligibility of other words during poor receiving conditions were the main problems. Later in 1952, ICAO decided to revisit the alphabet and their research. To identify the deficiencies of the new alphabet, testing was conducted among speakers from 31 nations, principally by the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States. In the United States, the research was conducted by the USAF-directed Operational Applications Laboratory (AFCRC, ARDC), to monitor a project with the Research Foundation of The Ohio State University. Among the more interesting of the research findings was that "higher noise levels do not create confusion, but do intensify those confusions already inherent between the words in question".[25]

By early 1956 the ICAO was nearly complete with this research, and published the new official phonetic alphabet in order to account for discrepancies that might arise in communications as a result of multiple alphabet naming systems coexisting in different places and organizations. NATO was in the process of adopting the ICAO spelling alphabet, and apparently felt enough urgency that it adopted the proposed new alphabet with changes based on NATO's own research, to become effective on January 1, 1956,[29] but quickly issued a new directive on March 1, 1956[30] adopting the now official ICAO spelling alphabet, which had changed by one word (November) from NATO's earlier request to ICAO to modify a few words based on U.S. Air Force research.

After all of the above study, only the five words representing the letters C, M, N, U, and X were replaced. The ICAO sent a recording of the new Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet to all member states in November 1955.[10] The final version given in the table above was implemented by the ICAO on 1 March 1956,[17] and the ITU adopted it no later than 1959 when they mandated its usage via their official publication, Radio Regulations.[31] Because the ITU governs all international radio communications, it was also adopted by most radio operators, whether military, civilian, or amateur. It was finally adopted by the IMO in 1965. During 1947 the ITU adopted the compound number words (Nadazero, Unaone, etc.), later adopted by the IMO during 1965.[citation needed]

In the official[32] version of the alphabet, the non-English spellings Alfa and Juliett are used. Alfa is spelled with an f as it is in most European languages because the English and French spelling alpha would not be pronounced properly by native speakers of some other languages – who may not know that ph should be pronounced as f.  Juliett is spelled with a tt for French speakers, because they may otherwise treat a single final t as silent. In some English versions of the alphabet, one or both of these may have their standard English spelling.[12]

Defined by various international conventions on radio, including:

  • Universal Electrical Communications Union, Washington, D.C., December 1920[33]
  • International Radiotelegraph Convention, Washington, 1927 (which created the CCIR)[34]
  • General Radiocommunication and Additional Regulations (Madrid, 1932)[35]
  • Instructions for the International Telephone Service, 1932 (ITU-T E.141; withdrawn in 1993)
  • General Radiocommunication Regulations and Additional Radiocommunication Regulations (Cairo, 1938)[36]
  • Radio Regulations and Additional Radio Regulations (Atlantic City, 1947),[37] where "it was decided that the International Civil Aviation Organization and other international aeronautical organizations would assume the responsibility for procedures and regulations related to aeronautical communication. However, ITU would continue to maintain general procedures regarding distress signals."
  • 1959 Administrative Radio Conference (Geneva, 1959)[38]
  • International Telecommunications Union, Radio
  • Final Acts of WARC-79 (Geneva, 1979).[39] Here the alphabet was formally named "Phonetic Alphabet and Figure Code".
  • International Code of Signals for Visual, Sound, and Radio Communications, United States Edition, 1969 (Revised 2003)[40]
Timeline in development of the ICAO/ITU-R radiotelephony spelling alphabet
Letter 1920 UECU[33] 1927 (Washington, D.C.) International Radiotelegraph Convention (CCIR)[41] 1932 General Radiocommunication and Additional Regulations (CCIR/ICAN)[42][43] 1938 (Cairo) International Radiocommunication Conference code words[44] 1947 (Atlantic City) International Radio Conference[45] 1946 ICAO Second Session of the Communications Division (same as Joint Army/Navy)[25] 1947 ICAO (same as 1943 US-UK)

[46]

[47][43]

1947 ICAO alphabet (adopted exactly from ARRL[48] 1947 ICAO Latin America/Caribbean[25] 1947 IATA proposal to ICAO[25] 1949 ICAO code words[25] 1951 ICAO code words[27] 1956 ICAO final code words[20] 1959 (Geneva) Administrative Radio Conference code words[49] 1959 respelling[49] 2008–Present ICAO code words[20] 2008–Present ICAO respelling[20]
A Argentine Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam Amsterdam Able ABLE ADAM ANA ALPHA Alfa Alfa Alfa Alfa AL FAH Alfa AL FAH
B Brussels Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baltimore Baker BAKER BAKER BRAZIL BETA Beta Bravo Bravo Bravo BRAH VOH Bravo BRAH VOH
C Canada Canada Casablanca Casablanca Casablanca Charlie CHARLIE CHARLIE COCO CHARLIE Coca Coca Charlie Charlie CHAR LEE or SHAR LEE Charlie CHAR LEE or SHAR LEE
D Damascus Denmark Danemark Danemark Danemark Dog DOG DAVID DADO DELTA Delta Delta Delta Delta DELL TAH Delta DELL TAH
E Ecuador Eddystone Edison Edison Edison Easy EASY EDWARD ELSA EDWARD Echo Echo Echo Echo ECK OH Echo ECK OH
F France Francisco Florida Florida Florida Fox FOX FREDDIE FIESTA FOX Foxtrot Foxtrot Foxtrot Foxtrot FOKS TROT Foxtrot FOKS TROT
G Greece Gibraltar Gallipoli Gallipoli Gallipoli George GEORGE GEORGE GATO GRAMMA Golf Gold Golf Golf GOLF Golf GOLF
H Hanover Hanover Havana Havana Havana How HOW HARRY HOMBRE HAVANA Hotel Hotel Hotel Hotel HOH TELL Hotel HO TELL
I Italy Italy Italia Italia Italia Item ITEM IDA INDIA ITALY India India India India IN DEE AH India IN DEE AH
J Japan Jerusalem Jérusalem Jérusalem Jerusalem Jig JIG JOHN JULIO JUPITER Julietta Juliett Juliett Juliett JEW LEE ETT Juliett JEW LEE ETT
K Khartoum Kimberley Kilogramme Kilogramme Kilogramme King KING KING KILO KILO Kilo Kilo Kilo Kilo KEY LOH Kilo KEY LOH
L Lima Liverpool Liverpool Liverpool Liverpool Love LOVE LEWIS LUIS LITER Lima Lima Lima Lima LEE MAH Lima LEE MAH
M Madrid Madagascar Madagascar Madagascar Madagascar Mike MIKE MARY MAMA MAESTRO Metro Metro Mike Mike MIKE Mike MIKE
N Nancy Neufchatel New York New-York New York Nan (later Nickel) NAN NANCY NORMA NORMA Nectar Nectar November November NO VEM BER November NO VEM BER
O Ostend Ontario Oslo Oslo Oslo Oboe OBOE OTTO OPERA OPERA Oscar Oscar Oscar Oscar OSS CAH Oscar OSS CAH
P Paris Portugal Paris Paris Paris Peter PETER PETER PERU PERU Polka Papa Papa Papa PAH PAH Papa PAH PAH
Q Quebec Quebec Québec Québec Quebec Queen QUEEN QUEEN QUEBEC QUEBEC Quebec Quebec Quebec Quebec KEH BECK Quebec KEH BECK
R Rome Rivoli Roma Roma Roma Roger ROGER ROBERT ROSA ROGER Romeo Romeo Romeo Romeo ROW ME OH Romeo ROW ME OH
S Sardinia Santiago Santiago Santiago Santiago Sail/Sugar SUGAR SUSAN SARA SANTA Sierra Sierra Sierra Sierra SEE AIR RAH Sierra SEE AIR RAH
T Tokio Tokio Tripoli Tripoli Tripoli Tare TARE THOMAS TOMAS THOMAS Tango Tango Tango Tango TANG GO Tango TANG GO
U Uruguay Uruguay Upsala Upsala Upsala Uncle UNCLE UNION URUGUAY URSULA Union Union Uniform Uniform YOU NEE FORM or
OO NEE FORM 		Uniform YOU NEE FORM or OO NEE FORM
V Victoria Victoria Valencia Valencia Valencia Victor VICTOR VICTOR VICTOR VICTOR Victor Victor Victor Victor VIK TAH Victor VIK TAH
W Washington Washington Washington Washington Washington William WILLIAM WILLIAM WHISKEY WHISKEY Whiskey Whiskey Whiskey Whiskey WISS KEY Whiskey WISS KEY
X Xaintrie Xantippe Xanthippe Xanthippe Xanthippe X-ray XRAY X-RAY EQUIS X-RAY ? eXtra X-ray X-ray ECKS RAY X-ray ECKS RAY
Y Yokohama Yokohama Yokohama Yokohama Yokohama Yoke YOKE YOUNG YOLANDA YORK Yankey Yankee Yankee Yankee YANG KEY Yankee YANG KEY
Z Zanzibar Zululand Zürich Zurich Zurich Zebra ZEBRA ZEBRA ZETA ? Zebra Zulu Zulu Zulu ZOO LOO Zulu ZOO LOO
0 Zero Zero[Note 1] Zero Zero Zero (proposal A: ZE-RO; proposal B: ZERO) Zero ZE-RO
1 One One[Note 1] One Wun One[Note 1] (proposal A: WUN; proposal B: WUN) Wun WUN
2 Two Two[Note 1] Two Too Two[Note 1] (proposal A: TOO; proposal B: BIS) Too TOO
3 Three Three[Note 1] Three Thuh-ree Three[Note 1] (proposal A: TREE; proposal B: TER) Tree TREE
4 Four Four[Note 1] Four Fo-wer Four[Note 1] (proposal A: FOW-ER; proposal B: QUARTO) Fower FOW-er
5 Five Five[Note 1] Five Fi-yiv Five[Note 1] (proposal A: FIFE; proposal B: PENTA) Fife FIFE
6 Six Six[Note 1] Six Six Six[Note 1] (proposal A: SIX; proposal B: SAXO) Six SIX
7 Seven Seven[Note 1] Seven Seven Seven[Note 1] (proposal A: SEV-EN; proposal B: SETTE) Seven SEV-en
8 Eight Eight[Note 1] Eight Ate Eight[Note 1] (proposal A: AIT; proposal B: OCTO) Eight AIT
9 Nine Nine[Note 1] Nine Niner Nine[Note 1] (proposal A: NIN-ER; proposal B: NONA) Niner NIN-er
. Point (proposal A: DAY-SEE-MAL; proposal B: DECIMAL) Decimal DAY-SEE-MAL
Hundred Hundred HUN-dred
Thousand (Proposal A: TOUS-AND) Thousand TOU-SAND
, Comma Comma Comma Comma
/ Fraction bar Fraction bar Fraction bar Fraction bar
Break signal Break signal Break signal
. Full stop Full stop (period) Full stop (period) Full stop (period)

For the 1938 and 1947 phonetics, each transmission of figures is preceded and followed by the words "as a number" spoken twice.

The ITU adopted the International Maritime Organization's phonetic spelling alphabet in 1959,[50] and in 1969 specified that it be "for application in the maritime mobile service only".[51]

Pronunciation was not defined prior to 1959. For the 1959–Present phonetics, the underlined syllable of each letter word should be emphasized, and each syllable of the code words for the figures (1969–Present) should be equally emphasized.

International aviation

The Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet is used by the International Civil Aviation Organization for international aircraft communications.[52][53]

Letter 1932 General Radiocommunication and Additional Regulations (CCIR/ICAN)[42][43] 1946 ICAO Second Session of the Communications Division (same as Joint Army/Navy)[25] 1947 ICAO (same as 1943 US-UK)

[46]

[47][43]

1947 ICAO alphabet (adopted exactly from ARRL[48] 1947 ICAO Latin America/Caribbean[25] 1947 IATA proposal to ICAO[25] 1949 ICAO code words[25] 1951 ICAO code words[27] 1956–Present ICAO code words[20]
A Amsterdam Able ABLE ADAM ANA ALPHA Alfa Alfa Alfa
B Baltimore Baker BAKER BAKER BRAZIL BETA Beta Bravo Bravo
C Casablanca Charlie CHARLIE CHARLIE COCO CHARLIE Coca Coca Charlie
D Danemark Dog DOG DAVID DADO DELTA Delta Delta Delta
E Edison Easy EASY EDWARD ELSA EDWARD Echo Echo Echo
F Florida Fox FOX FREDDIE FIESTA FOX Foxtrot Foxtrot Foxtrot
G Gallipoli George GEORGE GEORGE GATO GRAMMA Golf Gold Golf
H Havana How HOW HARRY HOMBRE HAVANA Hotel Hotel Hotel
I Italia Item ITEM IDA INDIA ITALY India India India
J Jérusalem Jig JIG JOHN JULIO JUPITER Julietta Juliett Juliett
K Kilogramme King KING KING KILO KILO Kilo Kilo Kilo
L Liverpool Love LOVE LEWIS LUIS LITER Lima Lima Lima
M Madagascar Mike MIKE MARY MAMA MAESTRO Metro Metro Mike
N New York Nan (later Nickel) NAN NANCY NORMA NORMA Nectar Nectar November
O Oslo Oboe OBOE OTTO OPERA OPERA Oscar Oscar Oscar
P Paris Peter PETER PETER PERU PERU Polka Papa Papa
Q Québec Queen QUEEN QUEEN QUEBEC QUEBEC Quebec Quebec Quebec
R Roma Roger ROGER ROBERT ROSA ROGER Romeo Romeo Romeo
S Santiago Sail/Sugar SUGAR SUSAN SARA SANTA Sierra Sierra Sierra
T Tripoli Tare TARE THOMAS TOMAS THOMAS Tango Tango Tango
U Upsala Uncle UNCLE UNION URUGUAY URSULA Union Union Uniform
V Valencia Victor VICTOR VICTOR VICTOR VICTOR Victor Victor Victor
W Washington William WILLIAM WILLIAM WHISKEY WHISKEY Whiskey Whiskey Whisky
X Xanthippe X-ray XRAY X-RAY EQUIS X-RAY X-RAY eXtra X-ray
Y Yokohama Yoke YOKE YOUNG YOLANDA YORK Yankey Yankee Yankee
Z Zürich Zebra ZEBRA ZEBRA ZETA ? Zebra Zulu Zulu
0 Zero Zero Zero
1 One Wun One
2 Two Too Two
3 Three Thuh-ree Three
4 Four Fo-wer Four
5 Five Fi-yiv Five
6 Six Six Six
7 Seven Seven Seven
8 Eight Ate Eight
9 Nine Niner Niner
. Decimal
100 Hundred
1000 Thousand

International maritime mobile service

The ITU-R Radiotelephony Alphabet is used by the International Maritime Organization for international marine communications.

Letter 1932–1965 IMO code words[54][better source needed] 1965–Present (WRC-03) IMO code words[55] 1967 WARC code words[56] 2000–Present IMO SMCP code words[57] 1967 WARC respelling[56] 2007–Present ITU-R respelling[13]
A Amsterdam Alfa Alfa Alfa AL FAH AL FAH
B Baltimore Bravo Bravo Bravo BRAH VOH BRAH VOH
C Casablanca Charlie Charlie Charlie CHAR LEE or SHAR LEE CHAR LEE or SHAR LEE
D Danemark Delta Delta Delta DELL TAH DELL TAH
E Edison Echo Echo Echo ECK OH ECK OH
F Florida Foxtrot Foxtrot Foxtrot FOKS TROT FOKS TROT
G Gallipoli Golf Golf Golf GOLF GOLF
H Havana Hotel Hotel Hotel HOH TELL HOH TELL
I Italia India India India IN DEE AH IN DEE AH
J Jérusalem Juliett Juliett Juliet JEW LEE ETT JEW LEE ETT
K Kilogramme Kilo Kilo Kilo KEY LOH KEY LOH
L Liverpool Lima Lima Lima LEE MAH LEE MAH
M Madagascar Mike Mike Mike MIKE MIKE
N New-York November November November NO VEM BER NO VEM BER
O Oslo Oscar Oscar Oscar OSS CAH OSS CAH
P Paris Papa Papa Papa PAH PAH PAH PAH
Q Québec Quebec Quebec Quebec KEH BECK KEH BECK
R Roma Romeo Romeo Romeo ROW ME OH ROW ME OH
S Santiago Sierra Sierra Sierra SEE AIR RAH SEE AIR RAH
T Tripoli Tango Tango Tango TANG GO TANG GO
U Upsala Uniform Uniform Uniform YOU NEE FORM or
OO NEE FORM 		YOU NEE FORM or
OO NEE FORM
V Valencia Victor Victor Victor VIK TAH VIK TAH
W Washington Whisky Whisky Whisky WISS KEY WISS KEY
X Xanthippe X-ray X-ray X-ray ECKS RAY ECKS RAY
Y Yokohama Yankee Yankee Yankee YANG KEY YANG KEY
Z Zurich Zulu Zulu Zulu ZOO LOO ZOO LOO
0 Zero ZEERO NADAZERO ZEERO NAH-DAH-ZAY-ROH NAH-DAH-ZAY-ROH
1 One WUN UNAONE WUN OO-NAH-WUN OO-NAH-WUN
2 Two TOO BISSOTWO TOO BEES-SOH-TOO BEES-SOH-TOO
3 Three TREE TERRATHREE TREE TAY-RAH-TREE TAY-RAH-TREE
4 Four FOWER KARTEFOUR FOWER KAR-TAY-FOWER KAR-TAY-FOWER
5 Five FIFE PANTAFIVE FIFE PAN-TAH-FIVE PAN-TAH-FIVE
6 Six SIX SOXISIX SIX SOK-SEE-SIX SOK-SEE-SIX
7 Seven SEVEN SETTESEVEN SEVEN SAY-TAY-SEVEN SAY-TAY-SEVEN
8 Eight AIT OKTOEIGHT AIT OK-TOH-AIT OK-TOH-AIT
9 Nine NINER NOVENINE NINER NO-VAY-NINER NO-VAY-NINER
. DECIMAL DAY-SEE-MAL DAY-SEE-MAL
. Full stop STOP STOP STOP
, Comma
Break signal
⁄ Fraction bar
1000 TOUSAND TOUSAND

Variants

Aviation

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Each transmission of figures is preceded and followed by "as a number" spoken twice.

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Alphabet - Radiotelephony". International Civil Aviation Organization. n.d. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b "SGM-675-55: Phonetic Alphabet for NATO Use" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  4. ^ Spelling out words Archived 17 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 20 July 2015
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  10. ^ a b c Pamphlet included in the 1955 ICAO phonograph recording, viewable at The Postal History of ICAO, Annex 10 – Aeronautical Telecommunications Archived 1 December 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ a b c International Civil Aviation Organization, Aeronautical Telecommunications: Annex 10 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Volume II (Fifth edition, 1995), Chapter 5, 38–40.
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  14. ^ a b "ICAO Phonetics in the FAA ATC Manual, §2-4-16". Federal Aviation Administration. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original on 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The Evolution and Rationale of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) Word-Spelling Alphabet, July 1959" (PDF). Retrieved 1 November 2017. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  26. ^ "The Postal History of ICAO Annex 10 - Aeronauticatl Telecommunications". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  27. ^ a b c "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie: how was Nato's phonetic alphabet chosen?". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
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  30. ^ "North Atlantic Military Committee SGM-156-56 memorandum" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  31. ^ International Telecommunication Union, "Appendix 16: Phonetic Alphabet and Figure Code", Radio Regulations (Geneva, 1959) 430–431.
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  33. ^ a b "Draft of Convention and Regulations, Washington, D.C., December, 1920". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
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  35. ^ "General Radiocommunication and Additional Regulations (Madrid, 1932)". Retrieved 26 April 2015.
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  38. ^ "Administrative Radio Conference (Geneva, 1959)" (PDF). Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  39. ^ "Final Acts of WARC-79 (Geneva, 1979)" (PDF). Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  40. ^ International Code of Signals for Visual, Sound, and Radio Communications, United States Edition, 1969 (Revised 2003) (PDF), 1969
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  42. ^ a b "(Don't Get) Lost in Translation" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  43. ^ a b c d Alcorn, John. "Radiotelegraph and Radiotelephone Codes, Prowords And Abbreviations" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
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  52. ^ "Alphabet - Radiotelephony". Retrieved 27 April 2015.
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  59. ^ Civil Aviation Authority, "Aircraft Call Sign Confusion Evaluation Safety Study" Archived 24 December 2004 at the Wayback Machine, April 2000 Appendix C Page 2 (PDF p. 33/48). "p) In alphanumeric call signs avoid phonetic letters that can be confused with another operator designator prefix e.g. D - Delta (The Airline)."
Look up ICAO spelling alphabet in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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