PHONETIC ALPHABET, 2009/2010
THE RADIOPHONIC ALPHABETS, INTERNATIONALLY
USED AND RECOGNIZED, ORIGINATED FROM THE
TWO SO-CALLED WORLD WARS, IN THE LAST CENTURY.
THESE ACROPHONIC ALPHABETS (IN WHICH
EACH WORD REPRESENTS ITS INITIAL LETTER) ARE
USED TO AVOID MISINTERPRETATIONS AND KEEP
MISTAKES PROBABILITIES TO THE VERY LEAST,
EVERY TIME THE MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF A
COMBINATION OF LETTERS SEEMS TO BE CRUCIAL.
IT IS NOT EASY TO FIND WORDS THAT CAN BE PRONOUNCED
AND DECODIED IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES,
AND THE ALPHABET KNOWN AS ABLE BAKER,
CREATED BY US ARMY IN 1941 AND THEN ADOPTED
BY CIVIL AVIATION, CONTAINED SUCH AN AMOUNT
OF SOUNDS UNIQUE TO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THAT ANOTHER SPELLING ALPHABET, CALLED ANA
BRAZIL, WAS USED IN LATIN AMERICA.
CURRENTLY, THE MOST USED OF THESE CODES IS
THE INTERNATIONAL RADIOTELEPHONY SPELLING
ALPHABET, ALSO KNOWN AS THE OTAN PHONETIC
ALPHABET, WHICH, DESPITE ITS REFERENCE TO
THE NORTH ATLANTIC, IS USED BY CIVIL AVIATION
COMPANIES AND RADIO AMATEURS THROUGHOUT
THE PLANET. EVEN IF IT DEPARTED FROM THE
RECOGNITION OF A NECESSITY TO FIND COMMON
SOUNDS TO ENGLISH, FRENCH AND SPANISH, THE
OTAN ALPHABET COMPRISES A CONSIDERABLE
NUMBER OF WORDS THAT REFER TO ANGLO-SAXON
CULTURE: ALFA BRAVO CHARLIE DELTA ECHO FOXTROT
GOLF HOTEL INDIA JULIET KILO LIMA MIKE
NOVEMBER OSCAR PAPA QUEBEC ROMEO SIERRA
TANGO UNIFORM VICTOR WHISKY XRAY YANKEE
ZULU. IRONICALLY ENOUGH, ROMEO AND JULIET,
SHAKESPEARE’S CHARACTERS CONDEMNED TO A
TRAGIC ENDING DUE TO MISCOMMUNICATION, ARE
INCLUDED IN THIS LIST.
ALFABETO FONÉTICO IS A PROPOSITION TO CREATE
A NEW SPELLING ALPHABET, TRYING TO USE WORDS
OF AN INTERNATIONAL MEANING AND SPELLING,
EVEN IF THEIR PRONUNCIATION IS ADAPTED TO
THE PHONETICS OF EACH DIFFERENT LANGUAGE AND
THE CUSTOMARY SOUNDS OF EACH COUNTRY. SOME
OF THE SELECTED WORDS, DERIVING FROM LATIN
OR GREEK, WERE INITIALLY SCIENTIC OR MYTHOLOGICAL
CONCEPTS AND ENDED UP BEING USED
IN DAILY BASIS (SUCH AS ATLAS OR FLORA); SOME
OTHERS ARE SO SPECIC TO A CERTAIN CULTURE OR
GEOGRAPHY THAT TEND TO BE USED EVERY TIME A
REFERENCE TO THEIR CONNOTATION IS NEEDED OR
DESIRED (SUCH AS HAREM OR NINJA); AND SOME
SEEM TO HAVE BECOME TRANSNATIONAL DUE TO
THE NEED OF THEM BEING RECOGNIZED BY FOREIGNERS
EVERYWHERE (SUCH AS CAMPING OR TAXI).
