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Subject:Re: Origin of phonetic alphabet From:Vincent Reh <VincentR -at- SC -dot- HARRIS -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 2 Jun 1995 14:41:00 EDT
Beverly Parks wrote in response to John Renish:
John Renish wrote-->
> Here are the correct pronunciations:
....
> Kay bek' (although most Americans say Que bek')
Beverly Parks:
>I know the pronunciation of Quebec is often debated, but if it
is not pronounced kwa-bek', how then is it phonetic? Kay-bek' is
no phonetically different than kee'-lo (as far as the sound of
the initial consonant).
>Maybe "Quebec" is just a poor choice to represent Q in a
phonetic alphabet. Perhaps a word like "quality," "question,"
or "queen" would be a better choice.
>If someone were relaying information to me and said "al'-fa,
lee'-ma, kay-bec'", Q would not be the letter that comes to my
mind with that pronunciation.
Just my observation.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I believe the word itself is supposed to denote the letter, not the
beginning sound of the phonetic. For example, the proper pronunciation of
Charlie is Sharlie. Also, Echo and X-ray both begin with the same sound.
If you know the phonetics by heart, there is never any confusion.
Anyway, I'm surprised nobody has raged against this thread, it seems to be
off-topic.
Vince Reh
Sr. Marketing Writer
Amateur Radio WA2AUY
vincentr -at- sc -dot- harris -dot- com
vincereh -at- aol -dot- com
