# PhoneticAlphabet.org

PhoneticAlphabet.org is a free, independent reference for spelling alphabets and phonetic notation. Its core subject is the NATO/ICAO phonetic alphabet — Alfa, Bravo, Charlie through Zulu — the international radiotelephony spelling alphabet standardised in 1956 and used unchanged since by aviation, the military, emergency services, maritime and amateur radio, and telephone support teams. The site gives the full A–Z table with pronunciation and Morse equivalents, the mandated pronunciations for the digits 0–9, a text-to-phonetic converter, printable charts, and guides to how the alphabet is applied in each profession. It also covers two systems that are frequently confused with it: the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a symbol set for speech sounds, and the APCO alphabet still used by many US police departments.

## Core reference

- [Phonetic Alphabet (home)](https://phoneticalphabet.org/): The complete NATO/ICAO alphabet A–Z with pronunciation and Morse, the phonetic numbers 0–9, and an inline converter.
- [Phonetic Alphabet Converter](https://phoneticalphabet.org/converter/): Type any word, name or reference and get its phonetic spelling instantly, with a copyable result.
- [Printable Phonetic Alphabet Chart](https://phoneticalphabet.org/phonetic-alphabet-chart/): The full A–Z chart plus numbers, laid out for one sheet of paper, with a wallet-card version.
- [NATO Alphabet Letters A–Z](https://phoneticalphabet.org/nato-alphabet-letters/): Each of the 26 letters in turn — code word, pronunciation, Morse, and why that word was chosen.
- [Phonetic Numbers 0–9](https://phoneticalphabet.org/phonetic-numbers-pronunciation/): Why radio says "tree" for three, "fife" for five and "niner" for nine, and where those pronunciations are mandatory.

## Professional use

- [Military Phonetic Alphabet](https://phoneticalphabet.org/military-phonetic-alphabet/): STANAG 7085, branch usage, brevity codes, grid references and the 9-line MEDEVAC format.
- [Aviation / FAA Phonetic Alphabet](https://phoneticalphabet.org/aviation-faa-phonetic-alphabet/): FAA application of the ICAO standard, ATC phraseology and pilot readback conventions.
- [Police APCO Phonetic Alphabet](https://phoneticalphabet.org/police-apco-phonetic-alphabet/): The Adam-Boy-Charles wordlist compared side by side with NATO, and which agencies use which.
- [Maritime / Marine VHF](https://phoneticalphabet.org/maritime-marine-vhf-phonetic-alphabet/): Hailing on Channel 16, MAYDAY format, position spelling and call-sign procedure.
- [Ham Radio Phonetic Alphabet](https://phoneticalphabet.org/ham-radio-phonetic-alphabet/): Call signs, contesting, and when operators legitimately substitute non-standard phonetics.
- [Phone Alphabet for Customer Service](https://phoneticalphabet.org/phonetic-alphabet-customer-service/): When to spell phonetically on a support call, how to read back emails and postcodes, and NATO words versus "B as in Boy".

## Learning and pronunciation

- [How to Learn the NATO Phonetic Alphabet](https://phoneticalphabet.org/learn-nato-phonetic-alphabet/): Spaced drills, mnemonics and the letter pairs new learners reliably mix up.
- [Pronunciation Guide](https://phoneticalphabet.org/pronunciation-guide/): Why the spellings are Alfa not Alpha, Juliett with two T's, and Lima as LEE-mah.

## History

- [The 1956 ICAO Standard](https://phoneticalphabet.org/history-1956-icao-standard/): How the current wordlist was developed, tested across languages and adopted worldwide.
- [Royal Navy vs. US Military Alphabets](https://phoneticalphabet.org/regional-differences-royal-navy-us-military/): How the WWII Able-Baker-Charlie lists evolved into the modern standard.

## Related notation systems

- [IPA Chart](https://phoneticalphabet.org/ipa-chart/): The International Phonetic Alphabet — consonants, vowels, diacritics and suprasegmentals.
- [IPA Vowel Symbols](https://phoneticalphabet.org/ipa-vowels/): Cardinal vowels, the vowel quadrilateral, monophthongs and diphthongs.
- [IPA Consonant Symbols](https://phoneticalphabet.org/ipa-consonants/): Pulmonic and non-pulmonic consonants by place and manner of articulation.
- [Morse Code Chart](https://phoneticalphabet.org/morse-code-chart/): Letters, numbers, punctuation and prosigns, with timing rules.

## About the site

- [About](https://phoneticalphabet.org/about/): Who runs the site, how entries are sourced, and the editorial approach.
- [Contact](https://phoneticalphabet.org/contact/): Corrections, source suggestions and privacy questions.