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Subject:Re: Origin of phonetic alphabet From:John Renish <John -dot- Renish -at- CONNER -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 1 Jun 1995 15:34:04 PDT
Shelley,
It's the International Phonetic Alphabet, not just the U.S. military's. It
is used by all civil aviation, shipping, and similar activities, as well as
for international communication (you can often hear it used for coded
transmissions on short wave radio; e.g., as groups of five characters). The
words were selected primarily because they are familiar to non-English
speakers (primarily U.S. allies in WWII), as well. Interestingly, in Saudi
Arabia they substitute Water for Whiskey.
Here are the correct pronunciations:
Al' fa
Bra' vo
Char' lie
Del' ta
E' ko
Fox trot
Golf
Ho tel'
In' di a
Ju' li et
Kee' lo
Lee' ma
Mike
No vem' ber
Os' kar
Pa pa' (although most Americans say Pa' pa)
Kay bek' (although most Americans say Que bek')
Ro' me o
See air' a
Tan' go
Un' i form
Vic' tor
Wis' key
Ex' ray
Yan' kee
Zu' lu
John -dot- Renish -at- conner -dot- com
My statements are my own and do not represent Conner Peripherals, Inc.
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