NATO phonetic alphabet

{| class="wikitable floatright"

|+ Letter names

| width="50%" |Alfa

| width="50%" | November

| Bravo || Oscar

| Charlie || Papa

| Delta || Quebec

| Echo || Romeo

| Foxtrot || Sierra

| Golf || Tango

| Hotel || Uniform

| India || Victor

| Juliett || Whiskey

| Kilo || Xray

| Lima || Yankee

| Mike || Zulu

|- align=center

|colspan=2|

{| class="wikitable floatright"

|+ Digit names (ICAO)

| width="50%" |One

| width="50%" | Seven

| Two || Eight

| Three ('tree') || Nine ('niner')

| Four ('fower') || Zero

| Five ('fife') || Hundred (00)

| Six || Thousand ('tousand')

The NATO phonetic alphabet, officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, is an internationally recognized set of names for the letters of the Latin alphabet and the Arabic digits. It is most commonly used in radio communication, where the usual names of the letters are likely to be misheard.

It was defined in 1955–1956 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). 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.

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

Design

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.

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. To eliminate national variations in pronunciation, posters illustrating the pronunciation desired by ICAO are available. 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 recognized alternative pronunciations where the ch is pronounced "sh" and the u is pronounced "oo", though these are not present on the NATO chart. 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.

Numerical digits

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".

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)

The IMO's GMDSS procedures permits the use of either set of code words. 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". 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 the more open vowels in closed syllables and the more close vowels 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.

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"

|+ class="nowrap"| Letter code words with pronunciation

!scope="col" rowspan="2"| Symbol

!scope="col" rowspan="2"| Code word

!scope="col" rowspan="2"| DIN 5009 (2022) International Phonetic Alphabet|

!scope="col" colspan="2"| International Civil Aviation Organization| (1950)

!scope="col"| International Phonetic Alphabet|

!scope="col"| English respelling

!scope="row"| A

| Alfa

| AL fah

!scope="row"| B

| Bravo

| BRAH voh

!scope="row"| C

| Charlie

| (or )

| CHAR lee (or SHAR lee)

!scope="row"| D

|Delta

| DELL tah

!scope="row"| E

|Echo

| ECK oh

!scope="row"| F

|Foxtrot

| FOKS trot

!scope="row"| G

|Golf

| golf

!scope="row"| H

|Hotel

| ho TELL

!scope="row"| I

|India

| IN dee ah

! scope="row" | J

| Juliett

| JEW lee ETT

!scope="row"| K

|Kilo

| KEY loh

!scope="row"| L

|Lima

| LEE mah

!scope="row"| M

|Mike

| mike

!scope="row"| N

|November

| no VEM ber

!scope="row"| O

|Oscar

| OSS cah

!scope="row"| P

|Papa

| pah PAH

!scope="row"| Q

|Quebec

| keh BECK

!scope="row"| R

|Romeo

| ROW me oh

!scope="row"| S

| Sierra

| see AIR rah

!scope="row"| T

|Tango

| TANG go

!scope="row"| U

|Uniform

| (or )

| (or ) (French)

!CCEB 2016

! scope="col" | Federal Aviation Administration|

! scope="col" |

Because the ITU governs all international radio communications, it was also adopted by most radio operators, whether military, civilian, or amateur.

In 1956, NATO adopted the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

International adoption

Soon after the code words were developed by ICAO, 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 rarely.

Technically a radiotelephonic spelling alphabet, it is known by various other names that vary with the international organizations that adopted it, e.g. the ITU phonetic alphabet and figure code or the IMO (International Maritime Organization) Marine Navigational Vocabulary.

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) 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)

Tables of telephone spelling alphabets

{| class="wikitable"

|+Timeline in development of the ICAO/ITU-R radiotelephony spelling alphabet

!scope="col"| Letter

!scope="col"| 1920 UECU

!scope="col"| 1938 (Cairo) International Radiocommunication Conference code words

!scope="col"| 1947 ICAO (from 1943 US–UK)

!scope="col"| 1947 ICAO Latin America/Caribbean

!scope="col"| 1951 ICAO code words

!scope="col"| 1959 ITU pronunciations

! 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.

International aviation

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

!scope="col" width=100px| 1967 WARC code words

!scope="col" width=100px| 2000–present IMO SMCP pronunciations

!scope="row"| A

|Amsterdam

|colspan=2|Alfa

|Alfa

|AL FAH

!scope="row"| B

|Baltimore

|colspan=2|Bravo

|Bravo

|BRAH VOH

!scope="row"| C

|Casablanca

|colspan=2|Charlie

|Charlie

|CHAR LEE or SHAR LEE

!scope="row"| D

|Danemark

|colspan=2|Delta

|Delta

|DELL TAH

!scope="row"| E

|Edison

|colspan=2|Echo

|Echo

|ECK OH

!scope="row"| F

|Florida

|colspan=2|Foxtrot

|Foxtrot

|FOKS TROT

!scope="row"| G

|Gallipoli

|colspan=2|Golf

|Golf

|GOLF

!scope="row"| H

|Havana

|colspan=2|Hotel

|Hotel

|HOH TELL

!scope="row"| I

|Italia

|colspan=2|India

|India

|IN DEE AH

!scope="row"| J

|Jérusalem

|colspan=2|Juliett

|Juliet

|JEW LEE ETT

!scope="row"| K

|Kilogramme

|colspan=2|Kilo

|Kilo

|KEY LOH

!scope="row"| L

|Liverpool

|colspan=2|Lima

|Lima

|LEE MAH

!scope="row"| M

|Madagascar

|colspan=2|Mike

|Mike

|MIKE

!scope="row"| N

|New-York

|colspan=2|November

|November

|NO VEM BER

!scope="row"| O

|Oslo

|colspan=2|Oscar

|Oscar

|OSS CAH

!scope="row"| P

|Paris

|colspan=2|Papa

|Papa

|PAH PAH

!scope="row"| Q

|Québec

|colspan=2|Quebec

|Quebec

|KEH BECK

!scope="row"| R

|Roma

|colspan=2|Romeo

|Romeo

|ROW ME OH

!scope="row"| S

|Santiago

|colspan=2|Sierra

|Sierra

|SEE AIR RAH

!scope="row"| T

|Tripoli

|colspan=2|Tango

|Tango

|TANG GO

!scope="row"| U

|Upsala

|colspan=2|Uniform

|Uniform

| or OO NEE FORM

!scope="row"| V

|Valencia

|colspan=2|Victor

|Victor

|VIK TAH

!scope="row"| W

|Washington

|colspan=2|Whisky

|Whisky

|WISS KEY

!scope="row"| X

|Xanthippe

|colspan=2|X-ray

|X-ray

|ECKS RAY

!scope="row"| Y

|Yokohama

|colspan=2|Yankee

|Yankee

|YANG KEY

!scope="row"| Z

|Zurich

|colspan=2|Zulu

|Zulu

|ZOO LOO

!scope="row"| 0

|Zero

|ZEERO

|NADAZERO

|ZEERO

|NAH-DAH-ZAY-ROH

!scope="row"| 1

|One

|WUN

|UNAONE

|WUN

|OO-NAH-WUN

!scope="row"| 2

|Two

|TOO

|BISSOTWO

|TOO

|BEES-SOH-TOO

!scope="row"| 3

|Three

|TREE

|TERRATHREE

|TREE

|TAY-RAH-TREE

!scope="row"| 4

|Four

|FOWER

|KARTEFOUR

|FOWER

|KAR-TAY-FOWER

!scope="row"| 5

|Five

|FIFE

|PANTAFIVE

|FIFE

|PAN-TAH-FIVE

!scope="row"| 6

|Six

|SIX

|SOXISIX

|SIX

|SOK-SEE-SIX

!scope="row"| 7

|Seven

|SEVEN

|SETTESEVEN

|SEVEN

|SAY-TAY-SEVEN

!scope="row"| 8

|Eight

|AIT

|OKTOEIGHT

|AIT

|OK-TOH-AIT

!scope="row"| 9

|Nine

|NINER

|NOVENINE

|NINER

|NO-VAY-NINER

!scope="row"| .

|DECIMAL

|DAY-SEE-MAL

!scope="row"| .

|Full stop

|STOP

!scope="row"| ,

|Comma

!scope="row"|

|Break signal

!scope="row"| ⁄

|Fraction bar

!scope="row"| 1000

|TOUSAND

Explanatory notes

References

External links

RobWords – The genius logic of the NATO phonetic alphabet