Spelling alphabet

A spelling alphabet, voice procedure alphabet, radio alphabet, or telephone alphabet is a set of words used to stand for the letters of an alphabet in oral communication.

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, or when the audio channel is not clear. The lack of high frequencies on standard telephones makes it hard to distinguish an 'F' from an 'S' for example. Also, the lack of visual cues during oral communication can cause confusion. For example, lips are closed at the start of saying the letter "B" but open at the beginning of the letter "D" making these otherwise similar sounding letters more easily discriminated when looking at the speaker. Without these visual cues, such as during announcements of airline gate numbers "B1" and "D1" at an airport, "B" may be confused with "D" by the listener. Spelling out one's name, a password or a ticker symbol over the telephone are other scenarios where a spelling alphabet is useful.

A spelling alphabet is also often called a phonetic alphabet, especially by amateur radio enthusiasts, recreational sailors in the US and Australia, and NATO military organizations. However, this conflicts with the usage of the same phrase in phonetics to mean a notation used for phonetic transcription or phonetic spelling, such as the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is used to indicate the sounds of human speech.

History

Prior to spelling alphabets, the words used to indicate English letters were "a", "bee", "cee", "dee", "e", etc. Their spoken sounds are difficult to discriminate, particularly over a limited-bandwidth and noisy communications channel, hence the use by armed services of unambiguous phonetic alphabets for electrical voice communication (telephone and radio, but not telegraph). Confusion between letters may not be problematical in some circumstances but, particularly in some military contexts, it can have lethal consequences.

British Army signallers began using a partial spelling alphabet in the late 19th century. Recorded in the 1898 "Signalling Instruction" issued by the War Office and followed by the 1904 Signalling Regulations this system differentiated only the letters most frequently misunderstood: Ack (originally "Ak") Beer (or Bar) C D E F G H I J K L eMma N O Pip Q R eSses Toc U Vic W X Y Z. This alphabet was the origin of phrases such as "ack-ack" (A.A. for anti-aircraft), "pip-emma" for pm and Toc H for an ex-servicemen association. It was developed on the Western Front of the First World War. The RAF developed their "Telephony Spelling Alphabet", which was adopted by all three services and civil aviation in the UK from 1921.

It was later formally codified to provide a phonetic equivalent for all 26 letters (see comparative tabulation of military alphabets before 1956).

For civilian users, in particular in the field of finance, terms such as "November" for N and "Kilo" for K were considered too long or obscure, and an alternative alphabet arose. Common first names were a popular choice, and the First Name Alphabet came into common use.

Voice procedure

See also: 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 known as the ICAO (or NATO) phonetic alphabet, the sequence J-A-K would be pronounced Juliet-Alpha-Kilo. Some voice procedure standards require numbers to be spelled out digit by digit, so 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".

Major radiotelephone spelling alphabets

ITU Phonetic Alphabet and Figure Code

Defined by various international conventions on radio, including:

• International Radiotelegraph Convention, Washington, 1927 (which created the CCIR)
• General Radiocommunication and Additional Regulations (Madrid, 1932)
• The ~1936 ARRL and Western Union alphabets likely originated earlier.
• 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)
• 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)
• NATO phonetic alphabet history
• International Telecommunications Union, Radio

Letter	1927 Phonetic	1932 Phonetic	~1936 ARRL	~1936 Western Union	1938 Phonetic	1947 Phonetic	1959 Phonetic	1969–Present Phonetic	1969–Present Pronunciation
A	Amsterdam	Amsterdam	Able	Adams	Amsterdam	Amsterdam	Alfa	Alfa	AL FAH
B	Baltimore	Baltimore	Boy	Boston	Baltimore	Baltimore	Bravo	Bravo	BRAH VOH
C	Canada	Casablanca	Cast	Chicago	Casablanca	Casablanca	Charlie	Charlie	CHAR LEE
D	Denmark	Danemark	Dog	Denver	Danemark	Danemark	Delta	Delta	DELL TAH
E	Eddystone	Edison	Easy	Edward	Edison	Edison	Echo	Echo	ECK OH
F	Francisco	Florida	Fox	Frank	Florida	Florida	Foxtrot	Foxtrot	FOKS TROT
G	Gibraltar	Gallipoli	George	George	Gallipoli	Gallipoli	Golf	Golf	GOLF
H	Hanover	Havana	Have	Henry	Havana	Havana	Hotel	Hotel	HOH TELL
I	Italy	Italia	Item	Ida	Italia	Italia	India	India	IN DEE AH
J	Jerusalem	Jérusalem	Jig	John	Jérusalem	Jerusalem	Juliett	Juliett	JEW LEE ETT
K	Kimberley	Kilogramme	King	King	Kilogramme	Kilogramme	Kilo	Kilo	KEY LOH
L	Liverpool	Liverpool	Love	Lincoln	Liverpool	Liverpool	Lima	Lima	LEE MAH
M	Madagascar	Madagascar	Mike	Mary	Madagascar	Madagascar	Mike	Mike	MIKE
N	Neufchatel	New York	Nan	New York	New-York	New York	November	November	NO VEM BER
O	Ontario	Oslo	Oboe	Ocean	Oslo	Oslo	Oscar	Oscar	OSS CUR
P	Portugal	Paris	Pup	Peter	Paris	Paris	Papa	Papa	PAH PAH
Q	Quebec	Québec	Quack	Queen	Québec	Quebec	Quebec	Quebec	KEH BECK
R	Rivoli	Roma	Rot	Robert	Roma	Roma	Romeo	Romeo	ROW ME OH
S	Santiago	Santiago	Sail	Sugar	Santiago	Santiago	Sierra	Sierra	SEE AIR RAH
T	Tokio	Tripoli	Tare	Thomas	Tripoli	Tripoli	Tango	Tango	TANG OH
U	Uruguay	Upsala	Unit	Union	Upsala	Upsala	Uniform	Uniform	YOU NEE FORM OR OO NEE FORM
V	Victoria	Valencia	Vice	Victor	Valencia	Valencia	Victor	Victor	VIK TAH
W	Washington	Washington	Watch	William	Washington	Washington	Whiskey	Whiskey	WISS KEY
X	Xantippe	Xanthippe	X-Ray	X-Ray	Xanthippe	Xanthippe	X-ray	X-ray	ECKS RAY
Y	Yokohama	Yokohama	Yoke	Young	Yokohama	Yokohama	Yankee	Yankee	YANG KEY
Z	Zululand	Zürich	Zed	Zero	Zurich	Zurich	Zulu	Zulu	ZOO LOO
1				One	One	One	One	UNAONE	OO-NAH-WUN
2				Two	Two	Two	Two	BISSOTWO	BEES-SOH-TOO
3				Three	Three	Three	Three	TERRATHREE	TAY-RAH-TREE
4				Four	Four	Four	Four	KARTEFOUR	KAR-TAY-FOWER
5				Five	Five	Five	Five	PANTAFIVE	PAN-TAH-FIVE
6				Six	Six	Six	Six	SOXISIX	SOK-SEE-SIX
7				Seven	Seven	Seven	Seven	SETTESEVEN	SAY-TAY-SEVEN
8				Eight	Eight	Eight	Eight	OKTOEIGHT	OK-TOH-AIT
9				Nine	Nine	Nine	Nine	NOVENINE	NO-VAY-NINER
0				Zero	Zero	Zero	Zero	NADAZERO	NAH-DAH-ZAY-ROH
,				Comma	Comma	Comma	Comma
/				Fraction bar	Fraction bar	Fraction bar	Fraction bar
					Break signal	Break signal	Break signal
.					Full stop	Full stop (period)	Full stop (period)	STOP	STOP
.								DECIMAL	DAY-SEE-MAL

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 International Maritime Organization's 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 1959–Present phonetics, the underlined syllable of each letter word should be emphasized, and each syllable of the code words for the figures (1969–Present) should be equally emphasized.

International aviation

The ICAO Radiotelephony Alphabet is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization for international aircraft communications.

Letter	1932 ITU/ICAN Phonetic	1951 IATA Phonetic	1956–Present ICAO Phonetic
A	Amsterdam	Alfa	Alfa
B	Baltimore	Bravo	Bravo
C	Casablanca	Coca	Charlie
D	Denmark	Delta	Delta
E	Edison	Echo	Echo
F	Florida	Foxtrot	Foxtrot
G	Gallipoli	Golf	Golf
H	Havana	Hotel	Hotel
I	Italia	India	India
J	Jerusalem	Juliett	Juliett
K	Kilogramme	Kilo	Kilo
L	Liverpool	Lima	Lima
M	Madagascar	Mike	Mike
N	New York	November	November
O	Oslo	Oscar	Oscar
P	Paris	Papa	Papa
Q	Quebec	Quebec	Quebec
R	Roma	Romeo	Romeo
S	Santiago	Sierra	Sierra
T	Tripoli	Tango	Tango
U	Upsala	Uniform	Uniform
V	Valencia	Victor	Victor
W	Washington	Whiskey	Whisky
X	Xanthippe	X-ray	X-ray
Y	Yokohama	Yankee	Yankee
Z	Zurich	Zulu	Zulu
1			One
2			Two
3			Three
4			Four
5			Five
6			Six
7			Seven
8			Eight
9			Niner
0			Zero
.			Decimal
			Hundred
			Thousand

NATO

The NATO phonetic alphabet is defined by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the five-nation subgroup of its members that maintain the Allied Communications Publications. This spelling alphabet evolved from the procedures of several different Allied nations during World War II, including:

• The United States Navy (multiple versions in 1913, 1927, 1938, and WWII)
• The United States Army (multiple versions in 1916, 1939, 1944, and 1961)
• The United States Army Air Force
• Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet (1941–1956)
• The British Royal Air Force phonetic alphabet (1921 onwards)

Allied military alphabet history

Royal Navy	Western Front slang or "signalese"	RAF phonetic alphabet		U.S. phonetic alphabet
1914–1918 (World War I)		1924–1942	1943–1956	1941–1956
Apples Butter Charlie Duff Edward Freddy George Harry Ink Johnnie King London Monkey Nuts Orange Pudding Queenie Robert Sugar Tommy Uncle Vinegar Willie Xerxes Yellow Zebra	Ack Beer Charlie Don Edward Freddie Gee Harry Ink Johnnie King London Emma Nuts Oranges Pip Queen Robert Esses Toc Uncle Vic William X-ray Yorker Zebra	Ace Beer Charlie Don Edward Freddie George Harry Ink Johnnie King London Monkey Nuts Orange Pip Queen Robert Sugar Toc Uncle Vic William X-ray Yorker Zebra	Able/Affirm Baker Charlie Dog Easy Fox George How Item/Interrogatory Jig/Johnny King Love Mike Nab/Negat Oboe Peter/Prep Queen Roger Sugar Tare Uncle Victor William X-ray Yoke Zebra	Able Baker Charlie Dog Easy Fox George How Item Jig King Love Mike Nan Oboe Peter Queen Roger Sugar Tare Uncle Victor William X-ray Yoke Zebra

Law enforcement

Defined by the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International.

The APCO first suggested that its Procedure and Signals Committee work out a system for a "standard set of words representing the alphabet should be used by all stations" in its April 1940 newsletter.

Letter	APCO Project Two, 1967	Modern
A	Adam
B	Boy
C	Charles
D	David
E	Edward
F	Frank
G	George
H	Henry
I	Ida
J	John
K	King
L	Lincoln
M	Mary
N	Nora
O	Ocean
P	Paul
Q	Queen
R	Robert
S	Sam
T	Tom
U	Union
V	Victor
W	William
X	X-Ray
Y	Young
Z	Zebra
1	WUN (with a strong W and N)
2	TOO (with a strong and long OO)
3	TH-R-EE (with a slightly rolling R and long EE)
4	FO-WER (with a long O and strong W and final R
5	VIE-YIV (with a long I changing to short and strong Y and V)
6	SIKS (with a strong S and KS)
7	SEV-VEN (with a strong S and V and well-sounded VEN)
8	ATE (with a long A and strong T)
9	NI-YEN (with a strong N at the beginning, a long I and a well sounded YEN)
0	ZERO (with a strong Z and a short RO)

Amateur radio variations

Officially the same as used by ICAO, but there are significant variations commonly used by stations participating in HF contests and DX (especially in international HF communications).

Letter	ICAO	DX	DX alternate
A	Alfa	America	Amsterdam
B	Bravo	Boston	Baltimore
C	Charlie	Canada	Chile
D	Delta	Denmark
E	Echo	England	Egypt
F	Foxtrot	France	Finland
G	Golf	Germany	Geneva
H	Hotel	Honolulu	Hawaii
I	India	Italy	Italy
J	Juliett	Japan	Japan
K	Kilo	Kilowatt	Kentucky
L	Lima	London	Luxembourg
M	Mike	Mexico	Montreal
N	November	Norway	Nicaragua
O	Oscar	Ontario	Ocean
P	Papa	Pacific	Portugal
Q	Quebec	Quebec	Queen
R	Romeo	Radio	Romania
S	Sierra	Santiago	Sweden
T	Tango	Tokyo	Texas
U	Uniform	United	Uruguay
V	Victor	Victoria	Venezuela
W	Whiskey	Washington
X	X-ray	X-ray
Y	Yankee	Yokohama
Z	Zulu	Zanzibar	Zulu
1	One
2	Two
3	Tree
4	Fower
5	Fife
6	Six
7	Seven
8	Eight
9	Niner
0	Zero
.	Stop
.	Decimal

Examples

Latin alphabets

The following examples are from various languages and time periods.

Letter	NATO phonetic alphabet	US Financial	British Forces 1952	RAF 1942–43	LAPD (see note)	French	German (DIN 5009)	Dutch	Italian	Spanish	Swedish	Danish	Norwegian	Finnish	Turkish	European Portuguese	Brazilian Portuguese	Romanian	Czech	Yugoslav
A	Alpha	Adam	Able	Apple	Adam	Anatole	Anton	Anton	Ancona	Antonio	Adam	Anna	Anna	Aarne	Adana	Aveiro	Amor	Ana	Adam	Avala
Ä	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ärger	-	-	-	Ärlig	-	-	Äiti	-	-	-	-	-	-
Å	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Åke	Aase	Åse	Åke	-	-	-	-	-	-
Æ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ægir	Ærlig	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
B	Bravo	Bob	Baker	Beer	Boy	Berthe	Berta	Bernard	Bologna	Burgos	Bertil	Bernhard	Bernhard	Bertta	Bolu	Braga	Bandeira	Barbu	Božena	Beograd
C	Charlie	Carol	Charlie	Charlie	Charles	Célestin	Cäsar	Cornelis	Como	Carmen	Caesar	Cecilie	Caesar	Celsius	Ceyhan	Coimbra	Cobra	Costică	Cyril	Cetinje
Ç	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Çanakkale	-	-	-	-	-
Ch	-	-	-	-	-	-	Charlotte	-	-	Chocolate	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Chrudim	-
Č	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Čačak
Ć	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ćuprija
D	Delta	David	Dog	Dog	David	Désiré	Dora	Dirk	Domodossola	Dolores	David	David	David	Daavid	Denizli	Dafundo	Dado	Dumitru	David	Dubrovnik
DŽ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	džamija
Đ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Đakovo
E	Echo	Eddie	Easy	Edward	Edward	Eugène	Emil	Eduard	Empoli	Enrique	Erik	Erik	Edith	Eemeli	Edirne	Évora	Estrela	Elena	Emil	Evropa
F	Foxtrot	Frank	Fox	Freddy	Frank	François	Friedrich	Ferdinand	Firenze	Francia	Filip	Frederik	Fredrik	Faarao	Fatsa	Faro	Feira	Florică	František	Foča
G	Golf	George	George	George	George	Gaston	Gustav	Gerard	Genova	Granada	Gustav	Georg	Gustav	Gideon	Giresun	Guarda	Goiaba	Gheorghe	Gustav	Gorica
Ğ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Yumuşak G	-	-	-	-	-
H	Hotel	Harry	How	Harry	Henry	Henri	Heinrich	Hendrik	Hotel	Historia	Helge	Hans	Harald	Heikki	Hatay	Horta	Hotel	Horia	Helena	Hercegovina
I	India	Ike	Item	In	Ida	Irma	Ida	Izaak	Imola	Inés	Ivar	Ida	Ivar	Iivari	Isparta	Itália	Índio	Ilie	Ivan	Istra
İ	-	-	Indigo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	İzmir	-	-	-	-	-
J	Juliet	Jim	Jig	Jug / Johnny	John	Joseph	Julius	Julius	Jolly	José	Johan	Johan	Johan	Jussi	Jandarma	José	José	Jean	Josef	Jadran
K	Kilo	Kenny	King	King	King	Kléber	Kaufmann	Karel	Kappa	Kilo	Kalle	Karen	Karin	Kalle	Kars	Kodak	Kiwi	Kappa / kilogram	Karel	Kosovo
L	Lima	Larry	Love	Love	Lincoln	Louis	Ludwig	Lodewijk	Livorno	Lorenzo	Ludvig	Ludvig	Ludvig	Lauri	Lüleburgaz	Lisboa	Lua	Lazăr / Lenuța	Ludvik	Lika
Ll	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Llave	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
LJ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ljubljana
M	Mike	Mary	Mike	Mother	Mary	Marcel	Martha	Maria	Milano	Madrid	Martin	Mari	Martin	Matti	Muş	Maria	Maria	Maria	Marie	Mostar
N	November	Nancy	Nan	Nuts	Nora	Nicolas	Nordpol	Nico	Napoli	Navarra	Niklas	Nikolaj	Nils	Niilo	Niğde	Nazaré	Navio	Nicolae ( Nae ?)	Norbert	Niš
Ñ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ñoño	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NJ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Njegoš
O	Oscar	Oliver	Oboe	Orange	Ocean	Oscar	Otto	Otto	Otranto	Oviedo	Olof	Odin	Olivia	Otto	Ordu	Ovar	Ouro	Olga	Otakar	Osijek
Ö	-	-	-	-	-	-	Ökonom	-	-	-	Östen	-	-	Öljy	Ödemiş	-	-	-	-	-
Ø	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Øresund	Østen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
P	Papa	Peter	Peter	Peter	Paul	Pierre	Paula	Pieter	Padova	París	Petter	Peter	Petter	Paavo	Polatlı	Porto	Pipa	Petrică	Petr	Pirot
Q	Quebec	Quincy	Queen	Queen	Queen	Quintal	Quelle	Quotiënt	Quadro	Querido	Quintus	Quintus	Quintus	Kuu	-	Queluz	Quilombo	???	Quido	kvadrat
R	Romeo	Roger	Roger	Roger / Robert	Robert	Raoul	Richard	Richard	Roma	Ramón	Rudolf	Rasmus	Rikard	Risto	Rize	Rossio	Raiz	Radu / Rodica	Rudolf	Rijeka
S	Sierra	Sam	Sugar	Sugar	Sam	Suzanne	Samuel	Simon	Savona	Sábado	Sigurd	Søren	Sigrid	Sakari	Sinop	Setúbal	Saci	Sandu	Svatopluk	Skopje
Ş	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Şırnak	-	-	-	-	-
Sch	-	-	-	-	-	-	Schule	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
ß	-	-	-	-	-	-	Eszett	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Š	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Šibenik
T	Tango	Thomas	Tare	Tommy	Tom	Thérèse	Theodor	Theodor	Torino	Toledo	Tore	Theodor	Teodor	Tyyne	Tokat	Tavira	Tatu	Tudor	Tomáš	Tuzla
U	Uniform	Uncle	Uncle	Uncle	Union	Ursule	Ulrich	Utrecht	Udine	Ulises	Urban	Ulla	Ulrik	Urho	Uşak	Unidade	Uva	Udrea	Urban	Užice
Ü	-	-	-	-	-	-	Übermut	-	-	-	Übel	-	-	-	Ünye	-	-	-	-	-
V	Victor	Vincent	Victor	Vic	Victor	Victor	Viktor	Victor	Venezia	Valencia	Viktor	Viggo	Enkelt-V	Vihtori	Van	Vidago	Vitória	Vasile	Václav	Valjevo
W	Whiskey	William	William	William	William	William	Wilhelm	Willem	Washington	Washington	Wilhelm	William	Dobbelt-W	Wiski	-	Waldemar	Wilson	Walter / dublu-v	dvojité V	duplo ve
X	X-ray	Xavier	X-ray	X-ray	X-ray	Xavier	Xanthippe	Xanthippe	Ics, Xeres, Xilofono	Xilófono	Xerxes	Xerxes	Xerxes	Äksä	-	Xavier	Xadrez	Xenia, ics	Xaver	iks
IJ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	IJmuiden	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Y	Yankee	Yogi	Yoke	Yoke / Yorker	Young	Yvonne	Ypsilon	Ypsilon	York, yacht	Yegua	Yngve	Yrsa	Yngling	Yrjö	Yozgat	York	Yolanda	i-grec	Ypsilon	ipsilon
Z	Zulu	Zachary	Zebra	Zebra	Zebra	Zoé	Zacharias	Zaandam	Zara	Zaragoza	Zäta	Zackarias	Zakarias	Tseta	Zonguldak	Zulmira	Zebra	Zoe	Zuzana	Zagreb
Ž	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Žirovnica

Note: The "LAPD" alphabet has been adopted by many other Public Safety agencies nationwide by way of the Association of Public‑Safety Communications Officials organization (APCO). See https://www.apcointl.org and LAPD phonetic alphabet.

Other alphabets

The Greek spelling alphabet is a spelling alphabet for the Greek language, i.e. a set of names used in lieu of alphabet letters for the purpose of spelling out words. It is used by the Greek armed and emergency services.

The Russian spelling alphabet is a spelling alphabet for the Russian version of the Cyrillic alphabet.

The PGP word list, the Bubble Babble wordlist used by ssh-keygen, and the S/KEY dictionary, are spelling alphabets for public key fingerprints (or other binary data) -- i.e., a set of names given to data bytes for the purpose of spelling out binary data in a clear and unambiguous way via a voice channel.

See also

• Cockney alphabet

External links

• Phonetic/spelling Alphabets for various languages from Brian Kelk's website
• Website converting text to telephone alphabet, (non-standard English, NATO, 14 other languages).
• Website converting text to NATO and several military English-language telephone alphabets
• Learn the NATO Radio Alphabet (and others) with flash cards game.ar:أبجدية لفظية