Phonetic Alphabet

The phonetic alphabet is a special alphabet used by the US Army and other Military branches. The main purpose of the phonetic alphabet is to provide a clearer way of spelling out words or using any letters or numbers in general, over a radio or other communications device.Soldier speaking phonetic alphabet in the radio

Each letter in the phonetic alphabet is actually a word beginning with that letter.

For example, in order to spell “DOG” using the phonetic alphabet, using the alphabet chart below, you would say: “Delta Oscar Golf.”

Did you notice the first letter of each word used? “D.O.G.”.

The phonetic alphabet is just that easy! Use the alphabet chart below to see what each letter and number is in the phonetic alphabet:

Phonetic Alphabet Letter Chart

Letter Phonetic Word Pronunciation
A Alpha al-fuh
B Bravo brah-voh
C Charlie char-lee
D Delta dell-tuh
 E Echo eck-oh
 F Foxtrot foks-trot
 G Golf golf
 H Hotel ho-tell
 I India in-dee-uh
 J Juliet joo-lee-et
 K Kilo kee-loh
 L Lima lee-muh
 M Mike myk
 N November noh-vim-ber
 O Oscar  os-ker
 P  Papa  pah-Pah
 Q  Quebec  kee-bek
 R  Romeo  roh-mee-oh
 S  Sierra  see-air-uh
 T  Tango  tang-oh
 U  Uniform  yoo-nee-form
 V  Victor  vik-ter
 W  Whiskey  wiss-kee
 X X-Ray  ecks-ray
 Y Yankee yayn-kee
 Z  Zulu  zoo-loo

Phonetic Alphabet Numbers

Numbers in the phonetic alphabet also have their own pronunciations. Most of them are pronounced as you normally would, a few, however, are modified to provide a clearer sound definition. Pay close attention to the pronunciation of each phonetic number below:

Number Phonetic Word Pronunciation
0 Zero zee-roh
 1 One wun
 2  Two too
 3  Tree tree
 4  Fower fa-wer
 5  Fife fife
 6  Six siks
 7  Seven seh-vin
 8  Eight ate
 9  Niner ny-ner