= NATO_phonetic_alphabet =

======================================================================
= NATO_phonetic_alphabet =
======================================================================

Introduction
======================================================================
Alphabetic code words
| width="50%" |**A**lfa
| width="50%" | **N**ovember
| **B**ravo || **O**scar
| **C**harlie || **P**apa
| **D**elta || **Q**uebec
| **E**cho || **R**omeo
| **F**oxtrot || **S**ierra
| **G**olf || **T**ango
| **H**otel || **U**niform
| **I**ndia || **V**ictor
| **J**uliett || **W**hiskey
| **K**ilo || **X**ray
| **L**ima || **Y**ankee
| **M**ike || **Z**ulu
|colspan=2|
The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet or simply the
Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic
alphabet, is the most widely used set of clear-code words for
communicating the letters of the Latin/Roman alphabet. Technically a
'radiotelephonic spelling alphabet', it goes by various names,
including NATO spelling alphabet, ICAO phonetic alphabet, and ICAO
spelling alphabet. The ITU phonetic alphabet and figure code is a
rarely used variant that differs in the code words for digits.

Although spelling alphabets are commonly called "phonetic alphabets",
they are not phonetic in the sense of phonetic transcription systems
such as the International Phonetic Alphabet.

To create the code, a series of international agencies assigned 26
clear-code words (also known as "phonetic words") acrophonically to
the letters of the Latin alphabet, with the goal that the letters and
numbers would be easily distinguishable from one another over radio
and telephone. The words were chosen to be accessible to speakers of
English, French and Spanish. Some of the code words were changed over
time, as they were found to be ineffective in real-life conditions. In
1956, NATO modified the then-current set used by the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO): the NATO version was accepted by
ICAO that year, and by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
a few years later, thus becoming the international standard.

The 26 code words are as follows (ICAO spellings): ', 'Bravo',
'Charlie', 'Delta', 'Echo', 'Foxtrot', 'Golf', 'Hotel', 'India', '',
'Kilo', 'Lima', 'Mike', 'November', 'Oscar', 'Papa', 'Quebec',
'Romeo', 'Sierra', 'Tango', 'Uniform', 'Victor', 'Whiskey', 'X-ray',
'Yankee', and 'Zulu'. and are spelled that way to avoid
mispronunciation by people unfamiliar with English orthography; NATO
changed to for the same reason. The code words for digits are their
English names, though with their pronunciations modified in the cases
of 'three', 'four', 'five', 'nine' and 'thousand'.

The code words have been stable since 1956. A 1955 NATO memo stated
that:

International adoption
======================================================================
Soon after the code words were developed by ICAO (see history below),
they were adopted by other national and international organizations,
including the ITU, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the
United States Federal Government as Federal Standard 1037C: Glossary
of Telecommunications Terms and its successors ANSI T1.523-2001 and
ATIS Telecom Glossary (ATIS-0100523.2019) (all three using the
spellings "Alpha" and "Juliet"), the United States Department of
Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (using the spelling
"Xray"), 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 NATO (using the spelling "Xray") 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 numerals ('zero', 'one', 'two', etc., though
with some differences in pronunciation), whereas the ITU (beginning on
1 April 1969) and the IMO created compound code words ('nadazero',
'unaone', 'bissotwo' etc.). In practice the compound words are used
very rarely.

Usage
======================================================================
A spelling alphabet is used to distinguish those parts of a message
that contain letters and digits, because the names of many letters
sound similar, for instance 'bee' and 'pee', 'en' and 'em' or 'ef' and
'ess'. The potential for confusion increases if static or other
interference is present, as is commonly the case with radio and
telephonic communication. For instance, the target message "proceed to
map grid DH98" would be transmitted as 'proceed to map grid
Delta-Hotel-Niner-Ait'.

Civilian industry uses the code words 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
conveyed by telephone (for example to authorize a credit agreement or
confirm stock codes), although ad-hoc code words are often used in
that instance. It has been used by information technology workers to
communicate serial numbers and reference codes, which are often very
long, 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.

Several codes words and sequences of code words have become
well-known, such as Bravo Zulu (letter code BZ) for "well done",
Checkpoint Charlie (Checkpoint C) in Berlin, and Zulu Time for
Greenwich Mean Time or Coordinated Universal Time. During the Vietnam
War, the US 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
======================================================================
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.

Pronunciations were set out by the ICAO before 1956 with advice from
the governments of both the United States and United Kingdom. To
eliminate national variations in pronunciation, posters illustrating
the pronunciation desired by ICAO are available. However, there remain
differences in the pronunciations published by ICAO and other
agencies, and ICAO has apparently conflicting Latin-alphabet and IPA
transcriptions. At least some of these differences appear to be
typographic errors. In 2022, the Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN)
attempted to resolve these conflicts. For example, they consistently
transcribe for what the ICAO had transcribed variously as in IPA and
as 'a, ah, ar, er' in orthography.

Just as words are spelled out as individual letters, numbers are
spelled out as individual digits. That is, 17 is rendered as 'one
seven' and 60 as 'six zero'. Depending on context, the word 'thousand'
may be used as in English, and, for whole hundreds only (when the
sequence 00 occurs at the end of a number), the word 'hundred' may be
used. For example, 1300 is read as 'one three zero zero' if it is a
transponder code or serial number, and as 'one thousand three hundred'
if it is an altitude or distance.

The ICAO, NATO, and FAA use modifications of English digits as code
words, with 3, 4, 5 and 9 being pronounced 'tree', 'fower' (rhymes
with 'lower'), 'fife' and 'niner'. The digit 3 is specified as 'tree'
so that it will not be mispronounced 'sri' (and similarly 'thousand'
is pronounced 'tousand'); 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"; and 9 has an extra syllable to
keep it distinct from the German word 'nein' "no". (Prior to 1956,
'three' and 'five' had been pronounced with the English consonants,
but with the vowels broken into two syllables.) For directions
presented as the hour-hand position on a clock, the additional
numerals "ten", "eleven" and "twelve" are used with the word
"o'clock".

The ITU and IMO, however, specify a different set of code words for
digits. These are compounds of ICAO and Latinesque roots.
The IMO's GMDSS procedures permits the use of either set of code
words.

Tables
========
There are two IPA transcriptions of the letter names, from the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Deutsches
Institut für Normung (DIN). Both authorities indicate that a
non-rhotic pronunciation is standard. That of the ICAO, first
published in 1950 and reprinted many times without correction (e.g.
the error in 'golf'), uses a large number of vowels. For instance, it
has six low/central vowels: , , , , and . The DIN consolidates all
six into the single low-central vowel . The DIN vowels are partly
predictable, with in closed syllables and in open syllables apart
from 'echo' and 'sierra', which have as in English, German and
Italian. The DIN also reduced the number of stressed syllables in
'bravo' and 'x-ray', consistent with the ICAO English respellings of
those words and with the NATO change of spelling of 'x-ray' to 'xray'
so that people would know to pronounce it as a single word.

Letter code words with pronunciation Symbol Code word DIN 5009
(2022) International Phonetic Alphabet International Civil Aviation
Organization (1950)
International Phonetic Alphabet English respelling
| **Alfa**
A | AL fah
| **Bravo**
B | BRAH voh
| **Charlie**
C | ('or' ) ('or' ) CHAR lee ('or' SHAR lee)
|**Delta**
D | DELL tah
|**Echo**
E | ECK oh
|**Foxtrot**
F | FOKS trot
|**Golf**
G | golf
|**Hotel**
H | ho TELL
|**India**
I | IN dee ah
| **Juliett**
J | JEW lee ETT
|**Kilo**
K | KEY loh
|**Lima**
L | LEE mah
|**Mike**
M | mike
|**November**
N | no VEM ber
|**Oscar**
O | OSS cah
|**Papa**
P | pah PAH
|**Quebec**
Q | keh BECK
|**Romeo**
R | ROW me oh
| **Sierra**
S | see AIR rah
|**Tango**
T | TANG go
|**Uniform**
U | ('or' ) ('or' ) | ('or' )
|**Victor**
V | VIK tah
|**Whiskey**
W | WISS key
|**Xray, x-ray**
X | ECKS ray
|**Yankee**
Y | YANG key
|**Zulu**
Z | ZOO loo

There is no authoritative IPA transcription of the digits. However,
there are respellings into both English and French, which can be
compared to clarify some of the ambiguities and inconsistencies.
Digit code words with pronunciation Symbol Code word Respellings
(English) Aeronautical Information Service (French) !CCEB 2016
Federal Aviation Administration International Maritime Organization
(English) !International Maritime Organization (French) 1957
| **One**, **unaone**
1 WUN OUANN |wun wun OO-NAH-WUN OUNA-OUANN wun wun,
| **Two**, **bissotwo**
2 TOO TOU |too too BEES-SOH-TOO BIS-SO-TOU too too
| **Three**, **terrathree**
3 TREE TRI |tree tree TAY-RAH-TREE TÉ-RA-TRI thuh-ree tree
|**Four**, **kartefour**
4 |FOW-er |FO eur |FOW-er |fow-er |KAR-TAY-FOWER | |fo-wer |fow-er
|**Five**, **pantafive**
5 |FIFE |FA ÏF |fife |fife |PAN-TAH-FIVE |PANN-TA-FAIF |fi-yiv
|fife
|**Six**, **soxisix**
6 |SIX |SIKS |six |six |SOK-SEE-SIX |SO-XI-SICKS |six |six
|**Seven**, **setteseven**
7 |SEV-en |SÈV n |SEV-en |sev-en |SAY-TAY-SEVEN |SÉT-TÉ-SEV'N
|seven |sev-en
|**Eight**, **oktoeight**
8 |AIT |EÏT |ait |ait |OK-TOH-AIT |OK-TO-EIT |ate |ait
| **Nine**, **novenine**
9 NIN-er NAÏ neu |NINE-er nin-er NO-VAY-NINER niner nin-er
| **Zero**, **nadazero**
0 ZE-RO ZI RO |ZE-ro ze-ro / zee-ro zero ze-ro
| **Hundred**
00 HUN-dred HUN-dred (zero zero) (hundred) hun-dred
| **Thousand**
000 (thousand) tou-sand
| **Decimal**,
(decimal point) DÈ SI MAL (decimal) (point) DAY-SEE-MAL DÉ-SI-MAL

The Combined Communications-Electronics Board (CCEB) has code words
for punctuation, including those in the table below.
Punctuation code words (CCEB) Symbol Code word
| **stop** (when not a decimal point)
.
| **comma** (when not a decimal comma)
,
| **hyphen**,
-
| **slant**
/
| **brackets on**
(
| **brackets off**
)

Others are: "colon", "semi-colon", "exclamation mark", "question
mark", "apostrophe", "quote", and "unquote".

Timeline in development of the ICAO/ITU-R radiotelephony spelling
alphabet Letter 1920 UECU 1927 (Washington, D.C.) International
Radiotelegraph Convention (CCIR) 1932 General Radiocommunication and
Additional Regulations (CCIR/ICAN) 1938 (Cairo) International
Radiocommunication Conference code words 1947 (Atlantic City)
International Radio Conference 1947 ICAO (from 1943 US–UK) 1947
ICAO alphabet (from ARRL) 1947 ICAO Latin America/Caribbean 1947
IATA proposal to ICAO 1949 ICAO code words 1951 ICAO code words
1956 ICAO final code words 1959 (Geneva) ITU Administrative Radio
Conference code words 1959 ITU pronunciations 2008-present ICAO code
words
!2005-present IMO pronunciations (English) !2005-present IMO
pronunciations (French) 2008-present ICAO pronunciations
2018-present NATO pronunciations
|**Alfa**
|**Alfa**
|**Alfa**
|**AL** FAH
|**AL** FAH
A |Argentine |Amsterdam |Amsterdam |Amsterdam |Amsterdam |ABLE |ADAM
|ANA |ALPHA |Alfa |AL FAH |Alfa |AL FAH al-fah
|**Bravo**
|**Bravo**
|**BRAH** VO
|**BRA** VO
B |Brussels |Baltimore |Baltimore |Baltimore |Baltimore |BAKER
|BAKER |BRAZIL |BETA |Beta |Bravo |BRAH VOH |Bravo |BRAH VOH brah-voh
|**CHARLIE**
|**CHARLIE**
|**CHARLIE**
|**Charlie**
|**CHAR** LEE ('or' **SHAR** LEE)
|**TCHAH** LI ('ou' **CHAR** LI)
C |Canada |Canada |Casablanca |Casablanca |Casablanca |COCO |Coca
|Coca |Charlie |CHAR LEE 'or' SHAR LEE |Charlie |CHAR LEE 'or' SHAR
LEE char-lee
|**DELTA**
|**Delta**
|**Delta**
|**Delta**
|**DELL** TAH
|**DEL** TAH
D |Damascus |Denmark |Danemark |Danemark |Danemark |DOG |DAVID |DADO
|Delta |DELL TAH |Delta |DELL TAH dell-tah
|**Echo**
|**Echo**
|**Echo**
|**ECK** O
|**EK** O
E |Ecuador |Eddystone |Edison |Edison |Edison |EASY |EDWARD |ELSA
|EDWARD |Echo |ECK OH |Echo |ECK OH eck-oh
|**'FOX**'
|**'FOX**'
|**Foxtrot**
|**Foxtrot**
|**Foxtrot**
|**FOKS** TROT
|**FOX** TROTT
F |France |Francisco |Florida |Florida |Florida |FREDDIE |FIESTA
|Foxtrot |FOKS TROT |Foxtrot |FOKS TROT foks-trot
|**Golf**
|**Golf**
G |Greece |Gibraltar |Gallipoli |Gallipoli |Gallipoli |GEORGE
|GEORGE |GATO |GRAMMA |Gold |Golf |GOLF |Golf |GOLF |GOLF |GOLF golf
|**Hotel**
|**Hotel**
|**Hotel**
|HOH **TELL**
|HO **TÈLL**
H |Hanover |Hanover |Havana |Havana |Havana |HOW |HARRY |HOMBRE
|HAVANA |Hotel |HOH TELL |Hotel |HO TELL hoh-tel
|**INDIA**
|**India**
|**India**
|**India**
|**IN** DEE AH
|**IN** DI AH
I |Italy |Italy |Italia |Italia |Italia |ITEM |IDA |ITALY |India |IN
DEE AH |India |IN DEE AH in-dee-ah
|**'Julietta**'
|**Juliett**
|**Juliett**
|**JEW** LEE **ETT**
|**DJOU** LI **ÈTT**
J |Japan |Jerusalem |Jérusalem |Jérusalem |Jerusalem |JIG |JOHN
|JULIO |JUPITER |Juliett |JEW LEE ETT |Juliett |JEW LEE ETT
jew-lee-ett
|**'Kilogramme**'
|**'Kilogramme**'
|**'Kilogramme**'
|**KILO**
|**KILO**
|**Kilo**
|**Kilo**
|**Kilo**
|**KEY** LOH
|**KI** LO
K |Khartoum |Kimberley |KING |KING |Kilo |KEY LOH |Kilo |KEY LOH
key-loh
|**Lima**
|**Lima**
|**Lima**
|**Lima**
|**LEE** MAH
|**LI** MAH
L |Liverpool |Liverpool |Liverpool |Liverpool |LOVE |LEWIS |LUIS
|LITER |Lima |LEE MAH |Lima |LEE MAH lee-mah
|**MIKE**
|**Mike**
|**MA** ÏK
M |Madrid |Madagascar |Madagascar |Madagascar |Madagascar |MARY
|MAMA |MAESTRO |Metro |Metro |Mike |MIKE |Mike |MIKE |MIKE mike
|**November**
|NO **VEM** BER
|NO **VÈMM** BER
N |Nancy |Neufchatel |New York |New-York |New York |NAN |NANCY
|NORMA |NORMA |Nectar |Nectar |November |NO VEM BER |November |NO VEM
BER no-vem-ber
|**Oscar**
|**Oscar**
|**Oscar**
|**OSS** CAH
|**OSS** KAR
O |Ostend |Ontario |Oslo |Oslo |Oslo |OBOE |OTTO |OPERA |OPERA
|Oscar |OSS CAH |Oscar |OSS CAH oss-cah
|**Papa**
|**Papa**
|PAH **PAH**
|PAH **PAH**
P |Paris |Portugal |Paris |Paris |Paris |PETER |PETER |PERU |PERU
|Polka |Papa |PAH PAH |Papa |PAH PAH pah-pah
|**Quebec**
|**Quebec**
|**Québec**
|**Québec**
|**Quebec**
|**QUEBEC**
|**QUEBEC**
|**Quebec**
|**Quebec**
|**Quebec**
|KEH **BECK**
|KÉ **BÈK**
Q |QUEEN |QUEEN |Quebec |KEH BECK |Quebec |KEH BECK keh-beck
|**Romeo**
|**Romeo**
|**Romeo**
|**ROW** ME OH
|**RO** MI O
R |Rome |Rivoli |Roma |Roma |Roma |ROGER |ROBERT |ROSA |ROGER |Romeo
|ROW ME OH |Romeo |ROW ME OH row-me-oh
|**Sierra**
|**Sierra**
|**Sierra**
|SEE **AIR** RAH
|SI **ÈR** RAH
S |Sardinia |Santiago |Santiago |Santiago |Santiago |SUGAR |SUSAN
|SARA |SANTA |Sierra |SEE AIR RAH |Sierra |SEE AIR RAH see-air-rah
|**Tango**
|**Tango**
|**Tango**
|**TANG** GO
|**TANG** GO
T |Tokio |Tokio |Tripoli |Tripoli |Tripoli |TARE |THOMAS |TOMAS
|THOMAS |Tango |TANG GO |Tango |TANG GO tang-go
|**Uniform**
|**YOU** NEE FORM ('or' **OO** NEE FORM)
|**YOU** NI FORM ('ou' **OU** NI FORM)
U |Uruguay |Uruguay |Upsala |Upsala |Upsala |UNCLE |UNION |URUGUAY
|URSULA |Union |Union |Uniform | 'or' OO NEE FORM |Uniform |YOU NEE
FORM 'or' OO NEE FORM you-nee-form
|**'Victoria**'
|**'Victoria**'
|**VICTOR**
|**VICTOR**
|**VICTOR**
|**VICTOR**
|**Victor**
|**Victor**
|**Victor**
|**VIK** TAH
|**VIK** TAR
V |Valencia |Valencia |Valencia |Victor |VIK TAH |Victor |VIK TAH
vic-tah
|**WHISKEY**
|**WHISKEY**
|**Whiskey**
|**Whiskey**
|**Whiskey**
|**WISS** KEY
|**OUISS** KI
W |Washington |Washington |Washington |Washington |Washington
|WILLIAM |WILLIAM |Whiskey |WISS KEY |Whiskey |WISS KEY wiss-key
|**XRAY**
|**X-RAY**
|**X-RAY**
|**X-ray**
|**ECKS** RAY
|**ÈKSS RÉ**
X |Xaintrie |Xantippe |Xanthippe |Xanthippe |Xanthippe |EQUIS |eXtra
|eXtra |X-ray |ECKS RAY |X-ray |ECKS RAY ecks-ray
|**Yankey**
|**Yankee**
|**Yankee**
|**YANG** KEY
|**YANG** KI
Y |Yokohama |Yokohama |Yokohama |Yokohama |Yokohama |YOKE |YOUNG
|YOLANDA |YORK |Yankee |YANG KEY |Yankee |YANG KEY yang-key
|**'Zululand**'
|**Zulu**
|**Zulu**
|**ZOO** LOO
|**ZOU** LOU
Z |Zanzibar |Zürich |Zurich |Zurich |ZEBRA |ZEBRA |ZETA |? |Zebra
|Zulu |ZOO LOO |Zulu |ZOO LOO zoo-loo
0 |Jérusalem |Jerusalem |Zero |Juliett |(alt. proposals: ZE-RO,
ZERO) |zero |'(see table of digits)' |'(see table of digits)' |ZE-RO
zee-ro
1 |Amsterdam |Amsterdam |Wun |Alfa |(alt. proposals: WUN, WUN) |one
|WUN wun
2 |Baltimore |Baltimore |Too |Bravo |(alt. proposals: TOO, BIS) |two
|TOO too
3 |Casablanca |Casablanca |Thuh-ree |Charlie |(alt. proposals: TREE,
TER) |three |TREE |tree
4 |Danemark |Danemark |Fo-wer |Delta |(alt. proposals: FOW-ER,
QUARTO) |four |FOW-er |fow-er
5 |Edison |Edison |Fi-yiv |Echo |(alt. proposals: FIFE, PENTA) |five
|FIFE |fife
6 |Florida |Florida |Six |Foxtrot |(alt. proposals: SIX, SAXO) |six
|SIX |six
7 |Gallipoli |Gallipoli |Seven |Golf |(alt. proposals: SEV-EN,
SETTE) |seven |SEV-en |sev-en
8 |Havana |Havana |Ate |Hotel |(alt. proposals: AIT, OCTO) |eight
|AIT |ait
9 |Italia |Italia |Niner |India |(alt. proposals: NIN-ER, NONA)
|nine |NIN-er |nin-er
. (decimal point) |(proposals: DAY-SEE-MAL, DECIMAL) |decimal
|DAY-SEE-MAL |DÉ-SI-MAL |DAY-SEE-MAL
Hundred |hundred |HUN-dred
Thousand |(proposals: TOUS-AND, –) |thousand |TOU-SAND
, |Kilogramme |Kilogramme |Kilo
/ (fraction bar) |Liverpool |Liverpool |Lima
(break signal) |Madagascar |Madagascar |Mike
. (punctuation) |New-York |New York |November |STOP |STOP
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 IMO phonetic spelling alphabet in 1959, and in
1969 specified that it be "for application in the maritime mobile
service only".

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

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. 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 US adopted the Joint Army/Navy radiotelephony
alphabet during 1941 to standardize systems among all branches of its
armed forces. The US 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 US, 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 US 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 US Joint Army/Navy spelling alphabet.
The CCBP (Combined Communications Board Publications) documents
contain material formerly published in US 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 US 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 US, 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:

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 that was the 1943 US-UK spelling alphabet. However,
many sounds were unique to English, so an alternative "Ana Brazil"
alphabet was used in Latin America. In spite of this, 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 to 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. The directions of ICAO were that "To
be considered, a word must:
# Be a live word in each of the three working languages.
# Be easily pronounced and recognized by airmen of all languages.
# Have good radio transmission and readability characteristics.
# Have a similar spelling in at least English, French, and Spanish,
and the initial letter must be the letter the word identifies.
# Be free from any association with objectionable meanings."
After further study and modification by each approving body, the
revised alphabet was adopted on , to become effective on 1 April 1952
for civil aviation (but it may not have been adopted by any military).

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 poor intelligibility 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
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".

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 1 January 1956, but quickly issued a new directive
on 1 March 1956 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 US 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. The final version given in the table above was
implemented by the ICAO on , and the ITU adopted it no later than 1959
when they mandated its usage via their official publication, 'Radio
Regulations'. 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 Latinate prefix-number words
('Nadazero', 'Unaone', etc.), later adopted by the IMO during 1965.
* Nadazero - from Spanish or Portuguese nada + NATO/ICAO zero
* Unaone - generic Romance una, from Latin ūna + NATO/ICAO one
* Bissotwo - from Latin bis + NATO/ICAO two. (1959 ITU proposals bis
and too)
* Terrathree - from Italian terzo + NATO/ICAO three ("tree") (1959 ITU
proposals ter and tree)
* Kartefour - from French quatre (Latin quartus) + NATO/ICAO four
("fow-er") (1959 ITU proposals quarto and fow-er)
* Pantafive - from Greek penta- + NATO/ICAO five ("fife") (From 1959
ITU proposals penta and fife)
* Soxisix - from French soix + NATO/ICAO six (1959 ITU proposals were
saxo and six)
* Setteseven - from Italian sette + NATO/ICAO seven (1959 ITU
proposals sette and sev-en)
* Oktoeight - generic Romance octo-, from Latin octō + NATO/ICAO eight
(1959 ITU proposals octo and ait)
* Novenine - from Italian nove + NATO/ICAO nine ("niner") (1959 ITU
proposals were nona and niner)

In the official version of the alphabet, two spellings deviate from
the English norm: 'Alfa' and 'Juliett'. 'Alfa' is spelled with an 'f'
as it is in most European languages because the spelling 'Alpha' may
not be pronounced properly by native speakers of some languages - who
may not know that 'ph' should be pronounced as 'f'. The spelling
'Juliett' is used rather than 'Juliet' for the benefit of French
speakers, because they may otherwise treat a single final 't' as
silent. For similar reasons, 'Charlie' and 'Uniform' have alternative
pronunciations where the 'ch' is pronounced "sh" and the 'u' is
pronounced "oo". Early on, the NATO alliance changed 'X-ray' to 'Xray'
in its version of the alphabet to ensure that it would be pronounced
as one word rather than as two, while the global organization ICAO
keeps the spelling 'X-ray'.

The alphabet is defined by various international conventions on radio,
including:
* Universal Electrical Communications Union (UECU), Washington, D.C.,
December 1920
* International Radiotelegraph Convention, Washington, 1927 (which
created the CCIR)
* General Radiocommunication and Additional Regulations (Madrid, 1932)
* Instructions for the International Telephone Service, 1932 (ITU-T
E.141; withdrawn in 1993)
* General Radiocommunication Regulations and Additional
Radiocommunication Regulations (Cairo, 1938)
* Radio Regulations and Additional Radio Regulations (Atlantic City,
1947), 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)
* International Telecommunication Union, Radio
* Final Acts of WARC-79 (Geneva, 1979). 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)

International aviation
========================
The Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet is used by the International
Civil Aviation Organization for international aircraft communications.

Timeline in development of the ICAO/ITU-R radiotelephony spelling
alphabet Letter 1932 General Radiocommunication and Additional
Regulations (CCIR/ICAN) 1946 ICAO Second Session of the
Communications Division (same as Joint Army/Navy) 1947 ICAO (same as
1943 US-UK) 1947 ICAO alphabet (adopted exactly from ARRL 1947 ICAO
Latin America / Caribbean 1949 ICAO code words 1951 ICAO code words
1956-present ICAO code words
A |Amsterdam |Able |ABLE |ADAM |ANA |Alfa |Alfa |Alfa
B |Baltimore |Baker |BAKER |BAKER |BRAZIL |Beta |Bravo |Bravo
C |Casablanca |Charlie |CHARLIE |CHARLIE |COCO |Coca |Coca |Charlie
D |Danemark |Dog |DOG |DAVID |DADO |Delta |Delta |Delta
E |Edison |Easy |EASY |EDWARD |ELSA |Echo |Echo |Echo
F |Florida |Fox |FOX |FREDDIE |FIESTA |Foxtrot |Foxtrot |Foxtrot
G |Gallipoli |George |GEORGE |GEORGE |GATO |Golf |Gold |Golf
H |Havana |How |HOW |HARRY |HOMBRE |Hotel |Hotel |Hotel
I |Italia |Item |ITEM |IDA |INDIA |India |India |India
J |Jérusalem |Jig |JIG |JOHN |JULIO |Julietta |Juliett |Juliett
K |Kilogramme |King |KING |KING |KILO |Kilo |Kilo |Kilo
L |Liverpool |Love |LOVE |LEWIS |LUIS |Lima |Lima |Lima
M |Madagascar |Mike |MIKE |MARY |MAMA |Metro |Metro |Mike
N |New York |Nan (later Nickel) |NAN |NANCY |NORMA |Nectar |Nectar
|November
O |Oslo |Oboe |OBOE |OTTO |OPERA |Oscar |Oscar |Oscar
P |Paris |Peter |PETER |PETER |PERU |Polka |Papa |Papa
Q |Québec |Queen |QUEEN |QUEEN |QUEBEC |Quebec |Quebec |Quebec
R |Roma |Roger |ROGER |ROBERT |ROSA |Romeo |Romeo |Romeo
S |Santiago |Sail/Sugar |SUGAR |SUSAN |SARA |Sierra |Sierra |Sierra
T |Tripoli |Tare |TARE |THOMAS |TOMAS |Tango |Tango |Tango
U |Upsala |Uncle |UNCLE |UNION |URUGUAY |Union |Union |Uniform
V |Valencia |Victor |VICTOR |VICTOR |VICTOR |Victor |Victor |Victor
W |Washington |William |WILLIAM |WILLIAM |WHISKEY |Whiskey |Whiskey
|Whisky
X |Xanthippe |X-ray |XRAY |X-RAY |EQUIS |X-RAY |eXtra |X-ray
Y |Yokohama |Yoke |YOKE |YOUNG |YOLANDA |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 1965-present (WRC-03) IMO code
words 1967 WARC code words 2000-present IMO SMCP pronunciations
1967 WARC pronunciations 2007-present ITU-R pronunciations
A |Amsterdam |colspan=2|Alfa |Alfa |AL FAH |AL FAH
B |Baltimore |colspan=2|Bravo |Bravo |BRAH VOH |BRAH VOH
C |Casablanca |colspan=2|Charlie |Charlie |CHAR LEE 'or' SHAR LEE
|CHAR LEE 'or' SHAR LEE
D |Danemark |colspan=2|Delta |Delta |DELL TAH |DELL TAH
E |Edison |colspan=2|Echo |Echo |ECK OH |ECK OH
F |Florida |colspan=2|Foxtrot |Foxtrot |FOKS TROT |FOKS TROT
G |Gallipoli |colspan=2|Golf |Golf |GOLF |GOLF
H |Havana |colspan=2|Hotel |Hotel |HOH TELL |HOH TELL
I |Italia |colspan=2|India |India |IN DEE AH |IN DEE AH
J |Jérusalem |colspan=2|Juliett |Juliet |JEW LEE ETT |JEW LEE ETT
K |Kilogramme |colspan=2|Kilo |Kilo |KEY LOH |KEY LOH
L |Liverpool |colspan=2|Lima |Lima |LEE MAH |LEE MAH
M |Madagascar |colspan=2|Mike |Mike |MIKE |MIKE
N |New-York |colspan=2|November |November |NO VEM BER |NO VEM BER
O |Oslo |colspan=2|Oscar |Oscar |OSS CAH |OSS CAH
P |Paris |colspan=2|Papa |Papa |PAH PAH |PAH PAH
Q |Québec |colspan=2|Quebec |Quebec |KEH BECK |KEH BECK
R |Roma |colspan=2|Romeo |Romeo |ROW ME OH |ROW ME OH
S |Santiago |colspan=2|Sierra |Sierra |SEE AIR RAH |SEE AIR RAH
T |Tripoli |colspan=2|Tango |Tango |TANG GO |TANG GO
U |Upsala |colspan=2|Uniform |Uniform | 'or' OO NEE FORM | 'or'
OO NEE FORM
V |Valencia |colspan=2|Victor |Victor |VIK TAH |VIK TAH
W |Washington |colspan=2|Whisky |Whisky |WISS KEY |WISS KEY
X |Xanthippe |colspan=2|X-ray |X-ray |ECKS RAY |ECKS RAY
Y |Yokohama |colspan=2|Yankee |Yankee |YANG KEY |YANG KEY
Z |Zurich |colspan=2|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
|**TREE**
|**TREE**
3 |Three |TERRATHREE |TAY-RAH-TREE |TAY-RAH-TREE
|**FOWER**
|**FOWER**
4 |Four |KARTEFOUR |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
|**NINER**
|**NINER**
9 |Nine |NOVENINE |NO-VAY-NINER |NO-VAY-NINER
. |DECIMAL |DAY-SEE-MAL |DAY-SEE-MAL
. |Full stop |STOP |STOP |STOP
, |Comma
|Break signal
⁄ |Fraction bar
|**TOU****SAND**
|**TOU****SAND**
1000

Variants
======================================================================
Since "Nectar" was changed to "November" in 1956, the code has been
mostly stable. However, there is occasional regional substitution of a
few code words, such as replacing them with earlier variants, to avoid
confusion with local terminology.
*As of 2013, it was reported that "Delta" was often replaced by
"David" or "Dixie" at Atlanta International Airport, where Delta Air
Lines is based, because "Delta" is also the airline's callsign. Air
traffic control once referred to Taxiway D at the same airport as
"Taxiway Dixie", though this practice was officially discontinued in
2020.
*"Foxtrot" may be shortened to "Fox" at airports in the United States.
*British police use "Indigo" rather than "India".
*In Indonesia, "London" is used in place of "Lima", because 'lima' is
the Malay word for 'five'.
*It has been reported that "Hawk" is sometimes used for "Hotel" in the
Philippines.

See also
======================================================================
* Allied military phonetic spelling alphabets
* APCO radiotelephony spelling alphabet (used by some US police
departments)
* International Code of Signals
* Language-specific spelling alphabets
** Finnish Armed Forces radio alphabet
** German spelling alphabet
** Greek spelling alphabet
** Japanese radiotelephony alphabet
** Korean spelling alphabet
** Russian spelling alphabet
** Swedish Armed Forces radio alphabet
* List of military time zones
* List of NATO country codes
* PGP word list
* Radiotelephony procedure
** Procedure word
** Brevity code
*** Ten-code
* Q code
* Spelling alphabet

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=========
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet