Phonetic Alphabet

Sierra Echo One Nine, Whisky One Two Zero!
Your eyebrows have probably shot up into your forehead, wondering what exactly I am talking about. But don’t think I’ve gone dull in the head; this is the phonetic alphabet I’m talking about.

The phonetic alphabet has come a long way since it was first created by the NATO allies in the 1950s; it ensured that all communication was intelligible and understandable in the midst of the battle. The phonetic alphabet is also called the radiotelephony-spelling alphabet; this is a method that requires words to be spelt out by their letters, where Mary would be Mike Alfa Romeo Yankee.

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet, thought not the only one in existence, is the most popular. In fact most western and European countries follow the NATO phonetic alphabet. Though the NATO phonetic alphabet is called the phonetic alphabet, it has nothing to do with the phonetic transcription system like the International Phonetic Alphabet.

To get a little background information, the first set of phonetically alphabet was adopted by the ITU in the late 1920s, this evolved in the 1930s. This alphabet was later used by the Navy and by civil aviation in the World War II. The original set of phonetic alphabet was:

Amsterdam, Baltimore, Casablanca, Denmark, Edison, Florida, Gallipoli, Havana, Italia, Jerusalem, Kilogramme, Liverpool, Madagascar, New York, Oslo, Paris, Quebec, Roma, Santiago, Tripoli, Upsala, Valencia, Washington, Xanthippe, Yokohama, Zurich.

These were evidently a little difficult to pronounce and use. This was later modified and reinvented in 1951 by the Civil Aviation and now was:

Alfa, Bravo, Coca, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Metro, Nectar, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Union, Victor, Whisky, Extra, Yankee, Zulu.

NATO Phonetic Alphabet

Each one of us has a distinct accent and a particular way of pronunciation. The English pronounce things differently from the Americans and the Australians, and the Indians have a pronunciation system that though closely similarly to the English, the accent can give rise to complications. This is where the NATO phonetic alphabet is a big boon.
Here is the list of the alphabet:

• A – Alfa or Alpha
• B – Bravo
• C – Charlie
• D – Delta
• E – Echo
• F – Foxtrot
• G – Golf
• H – Hotel
• I – India
• J – Juliet
• K – Kilo
• L – Lima
• M – Mike
• N – November
• O – Oscar
• P – Papa
• Q – Quebec
• R – Romeo
• S – Sierra
• T – Tango
• U – Uniform
• V – Victor
• W – Whiskey
• X – X-ray
• Y – Yankee
• Z – Zulu
• 0 – Zero
• 1 – One
• 2 – Two
• 3 – Three
• 4 – Four
• 5 – Five
• 6 – Six
• 7 – Seven
• 8 – Eight
• 9 - Nine

The phonetic Alphabet was created to spell out parts of a message that could lead to confusion. Letter like N and M sound similar, so do B, D and P. And the radio at that time was prone to a lot of static, and in the times of the war, clarity was next to impossible, yet so important. And when the American and British army realized its importance, we can all say that it is important isn’t it. Now each association doesn’t follow its own, but rather prefers using the NATO Phonetic Alphabet which is quite universally acceptable.