The phonetic alphabet assigns code words to the letters of the english alphabet (alfa for a, bravo for b, etc.) so that critical combinations of letters (and numbers) can be pronounced and understood by those who transmit and receive voice messages by radio or telephone regardless of their native language, especially when the safety of navigation or persons is essential. It was devised by the international phonetic association in the late 19th century as a standard written representation for the sounds of speech
Phonetic alphabet tables useful for spelling words and names over the phone The international phonetic alphabet (ipa) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the latin script I printed this page, cut out the table containing the nato phonetic alphabet (below), and taped it to the side of my computer monitor when i was a call center help desk technician.
