The number three has been changed to “tree” to avoid the “th” sound.The pronunciation of the number four has been changed “fower” (fow er) to avoid confusion with the English word “for.”.The number nine has been changed to “niner” (nine er) to avoid confusion with the German word “nein,” which means “no” and is pronounced the same as the English number nine.The pronunciation of the numbers 3, 4, 5, and 9 have been changed to avoid confusion for the following reasons: “Thousand” becomes “tousand” (i.e., “taou zend”).The primary reason for the modification of the pronunciation is to eliminate the “th” (tongue between teeth) sound in words such as “three.” This “th” sound is eliminated by removing the “h” in “th.” Other notable spellings relate to the pronunciation of numbers. An extra “t” was added to the end of “Juliet,” as native French speakers may interpret the last “t” in “Juliet” as silent.Because of the unique English and French pronunciation of the “ph” in “Alpha,” it was decided to replace the “ph” with “fa,” leading to the spelling of “Alfa.” This ensured correct instinctive pronunciation by most non-English and non-French speakers.Most notable is the spelling of Alfa and Juliett: To avoid confusion between languages and similar words, the spelling and pronunciation of certain words and numbers have been changed compared to their traditional English versions.

In aviation, the following ICAO Aviation Alphabet is used (underlined parts indicate which syllables should be emphasized): LetterĪdditionally, the following aviation numerals are used: NumberĪ vital aspect of the ICAO aviation alphabet is the tailored pronunciation and spelling of certain words and numbers. To solve this issue, a set of standardized words was created to denote each letter of the alphabet. This issue is exacerbated when audio quality is reduced, such as during a phone call or radio transmission. Everyone has experienced the frustration of trying to communicate the spelling of a word or phrase only to have to repeat it, or worse, not realize that it has been received incorrectly.

Icao spelling alphabet pdf