Spelling alphabet

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A spelling alphabet, radio alphabet, or telephone alphabet is a set of words which are used to stand for the letters of an alphabet. Each word in the spelling alphabet typically replaces the name of the letter with which it starts (acrophony). It is used to spell out words when speaking to someone not able to see the speaker, meaning there are no visual cues which assist the listener. Giving one's name over the telephone is a common scenario where a spelling alphabet is often used. Spelling alphabets are often called phonetic alphabets. However, phonetic transcription systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet are designed to record detailed information about the sounds of human speech. As written representations of spoken sounds, they are utterly different from spelling alphabets, which are spoken representations of written symbols.

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[edit] Voice procedure

Spelling alphabets are especially useful when speaking in a noisy environment when clarity and promptness of communication is essential, for example during two-way radio communication between an aircraft pilot and air traffic control, or in military operations. Whereas the names of many letters sound alike, the set of replacement words can be selected to be as distinct from each other as possible, to minimise the likelihood of ambiguity or mistaking one letter for another. For example, if a burst of static cuts off the start of an English-language utterance of the letter J, it may be mistaken for A or K. In the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet (or NATO phonetic alphabet), the sequence J-A-K would be pronounced Juliett-Alpha-Kilo. Some voice procedure standards require numbers to be spelled out digit by digit; some spelling alphabets replace confusable digit names with more distinct alternatives: for example, the NATO alphabet has "niner" for 9 to distinguish it better from 5 and the German word "nein".

[edit] History

On the Western Front of the First World War British Army signallers developed "signalese", a way of spelling out over the landlines in use to communicate. This gave rise to phrases such as "Ack-Ack" from AA for anti-aircraft. Pip-emma for pm.

[edit] Examples

The following examples are from various languages and time periods:[1][2]

Letter NATO & Aviation British Forces 1952 RAF 1942–43 NY Police French German (DIN 5009) Dutch Italian Spanish Swedish Danish Turkish
A Alpha Abel Apple Adam Anatole Anton Anna Ancona Antonio Adam Alfa Aydın
Ä - - - - - Ärger - - - Ärlig - -
B Bravo Baker Beer Boy Berthe Berta Bernard Bologna Barcelona Bertil Bravo Bekir
C Charlie Charlie Charlie Charlie Célestin Cäsar Cornelis Como Carmen Ceasar Charlie Cemal
Ch - - - - - Charlotte - - Chocolate - - -
D Delta Dog Dog David Désiré Dora Dirk Domodossola Dolores David Delta Deniz
E Echo Easy Edward Edward Eugène Emil Eduard Empoli Enrique Erik Echo Engin
F Foxtrot Fox Freddy Frank François Friedrich Ferdinand Firenze Francia Fredrik Foxtrot Fener
G Golf George George George Gaston Gustav Gerard Genova Gerona Gustav Golf Gazi
H Hotel How Harry Henry Henri Heinrich Hendrik Hotel Historia Helge Hotel Halat
I India Item In Ida Irma Ida Izaak Imola Inés Ivar India İstif
J Juliet Jig Jug / Johnny John Joseph Julius Jan I lunga[3] José Johan Juliet Jale
K Kilo King King King Kléber Kaufmann Karel Kilo Kilo Kalle Kilo Kilo
L Lima Love Love Larry Louis Ludwig Lodewijk Livorno Lorenzo Ludvig Lima Liman
Ll - - - - - - - - Llobregat - - -
M Mike/Mama Mike Mother Mary Marcel Martha Maria Milano Madrid Martin Mike Merih
N November Nan Nuts Nora Nicolas Nordpol Nico Napoli Navarra Niklas November Neptün
Ñ - - - - - - - - Ñoño - - -
O Oscar Oboe Orange Ocean Oscar Otto Otto Otranto Oviedo Olof Oscar Oruç
Ö - - - - - Ökonom - - - Östen - -
P Papa Peter Peter Peter Pierre Paula Pieter Padova París Petter Papa Pilot
Q Quebec Queen Queen Queen Quintal Quelle Quotiënt Quarto Querido Quintus Quebec -
R Romeo Roger Roger / Robert Robert Raoul Richard Rudolf Roma Ramón Rudolf Romeo Roket
S Sierra Sugar Sugar Sam Suzanne Samuel Simon Savona Sábado Sigurd Sierra Süngü
Sch - - - - - Schule - - - - - -
ß - - - - - Eszett[3] - - - - - -
T Tango Tare Tommy Tom Thérèse Theodor Teunis Torino Tarragona Tore Tango Türk
U Uniform Uncle Uncle Union Ursule Ulrich Utrecht Udine Ulises Urban Uniform Ulu
Ü - - - - - Übermut - - - Übel - -
V Victor Victor Vic Victor Victor Viktor Victor Venezia Valencia Viktor Victor Vatan
W Whiskey William William William William Wilhelm Willem Washington Washington Wilhelm Whiskey -
X X-ray X-ray X-ray X-ray Xavier Xanthippe Xanthippe Ics[3] Xiquena Xerxes X-ray
IJ - - - - - - IJmuiden - - - - -
Y Yankee Yoke Yoke / Yorker Young Yvonne Ypsilon[3] Ypsilon[3] York Yeguna Yngve Yankee Yavuz
Z Zulu Zebra Zebra Zebra Zoé Zacharias Zaandam Zara Zaragoza Zäta[3] Zulu Zeybek
Æ - - - - - - - - - - Ægir -
Ø - - - - - - - - - - Ødis -
Å - - - - - - - - - Åke Åse -

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The International Phonetic Alphabet for Radio Communications". Communications Specialists. http://www.comm-spec.com/phonetic-alphabet.php. Retrieved on 2009-02-27. 
  2. ^ tr:Fonetik abece tablosu
  3. ^ a b c d e f This is simply the ordinary name of the letter.

[edit] External links

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