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Subject:Re: Origin of phonetic alphabet From:"Dan S. Azlin" <dazlin -at- SHORE -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 15 Jun 1995 00:02:24 -0400
Phonetic alphabets were developed to compensate for the poor voice
quality, hence intelligibility, of early voice communications over
radio. It was frequently necessary to repeat words many times in order
to be understood clearly by the radio operator at the receiving end.
Difficult words were "spelled out" using short, easily understood words
where the first letter was the letter being represented. The practice
evolved with early radio technology and was formalized by government
agencies, the military, and specialized professions such as shipping.
(This was in the days of those funny glass bottles that glowed in the
dark, called vacuum tubes, that made amplitude modulation possible.)
With all of those good intentions and multitude of hands in the pie, it's
a wonder that we have only two formal phonetic alphabets in common usage
today.
And that's the way it was, folks...
On Mon, 12 Jun 1995, Dana L. Cadman wrote:
> Folks, it doesn't matter how Quebec is pronounced in other languages,
> by international convention it is pronounced Key' bec. The whole
> purpose of the IPA is make sure people are understood, so right or
> wrong by what you're used to, this is how it's pronounced, just like
> Oscar is pronounce Os' cah, not Os' car. And nine is pronounced Nin' er.
> As for the origins, how these words were chosen, which I believe was the
> original intent of this thread, I have no idea. Does anyone else?
> --
> From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000
> Those who are willing to sacrifice freedom in the name of security will
> have neither. - Benjaman Franklin
Dan Azlin ** WORD ENGINEERS, Technical Writing & Publishing **
Ph/Fax: 508-921-8908 18 School Street
Internet: dazlin -at- shore -dot- net Beverly, MA 01915-4851
