NATO phonetic alphabet
The NATO phonetic alphabet is the most widely used set of clear-code words for communicating the letters of the latin alphabet. 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.
In print, these code words are commonly capitalized or written in all caps for visual salience. Alfa and Juliett are spelled that way to avoid mispronunciation by people unfamiliar with English orthography; NATO changed |X-ray to Xray for the same reason.[1] 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:
It is known[citation needed] that [the 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.[2]
In Popular Culture
Several pieces of Pop Culture make reference to the NATO phonetic alphabet:
- The Wilco album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, referencing a series of letters in the phonetic alphabet that Jeff Tweedy had heard on the Irdial box set The Conet Project: Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations. A clip from this Numbers Station transmission was placed in the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot song "Poor Places"; Irdial later sued Wilco for copyright infringement, and a settlement was reached out of court.[3]
- Wensleydale Tango Foxtrot, an abbreviation[wrong] of WTF, which is abbreviation[right] of What The Fuck.
- In Jurassic world, the raptors are named Blue, Delta, Echo and Charlie. The reason why Alfa is not used is because the trainer is the alpha. The reason why Bravo is not used is because are they stupid?[citation needed]
- Someone[idgaf] was told to taxi down the taxiways Golf, Alfa, Yankee. As there were not even twenty-five taxiways at that small airfield, they proceeded to announce "We missed [Golf]", and when they realised this was simply a mild funny[dubious ] at their expense, proceeded to collide with the apron at Mach 2.
India
Alfa Mike
Tango Romeo Alfa November Sierra Golf Echo November Delta Echo Romeo
- ↑ "NATO phonetic alphabet, codes & signals" (PDF). North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 15 January 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ↑ "SGM-675-55: Phonetic Alphabet for NATO Use" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2018.
- ↑ Gupta, Jaya (June 25, 2004). "Wilco Settle Lawsuit". Filter Magazine. Archived from the original on October 27, 2006.