WEBVTT - Where Did the Phonetic Alphabet Come From?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here it happens all the

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<v Speaker 1>time when we watch movies, especially war movies. Crackle comes

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<v Speaker 1>over someone's radio and a voice cuts through the static.

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<v Speaker 1>Alpha Bravo. This is foxtrot victor, report your position over Alpha.

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<v Speaker 1>Bravo and foxtrot victor aren't code names. The hypothetical actors

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<v Speaker 1>who are playing soldiers in this hypothetical movie are using

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<v Speaker 1>the phonetic alphabet, also known as the NATO phonetic alphabet

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<v Speaker 1>or the military alphabet, where each letter is assigned a

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<v Speaker 1>full word. This may seem entirely unnecessary, why not just

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<v Speaker 1>say A instead of alpha, But think back to that scene.

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<v Speaker 1>The static of the radio, maybe the sounds of gunfire

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<v Speaker 1>or air raids, maybe other soldiers barking orders and answering.

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<v Speaker 1>Imagine trying to get a clear message through that radio

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<v Speaker 1>with all that noise. Maybe it's even come up in

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<v Speaker 1>real life when you've tried to spell your name or

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<v Speaker 1>email address while on the phone with customer service. You've

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<v Speaker 1>possibly used your own made up phonetic alphabet. That's S

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<v Speaker 1>is in superb as an apple and M is in music.

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<v Speaker 1>When people mostly communicated by writing letters, this wasn't a problem,

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<v Speaker 1>but as audio communications became more widespread, this kind of

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<v Speaker 1>clarity became necessary. According to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

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<v Speaker 1>or NATO, the first internationally recognized phonetic alphabet was invented

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<v Speaker 1>in the nineteen twenties by the International Telecommunications Union. It

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<v Speaker 1>used geographical names for each letter Amsterdam, Baltimore, Casablanca, Denmark,

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<v Speaker 1>and so on. In n one. In time for World

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<v Speaker 1>War Two, the U. S. Army and Navy jointly created

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<v Speaker 1>what's called the Abel Baker alphabet, which was also adopted

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<v Speaker 1>by United Kingdom forces. It uses shorter everyday words and

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<v Speaker 1>they aimes, Abel, Baker, Charlie, dog, easy, fox, etcetera. A

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<v Speaker 1>decade later, in nineteen fifty one, the International Air Transport

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<v Speaker 1>Association revised this alphabet to be less English centric. The

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<v Speaker 1>words used are all common in English, but we're considered

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<v Speaker 1>more universal, incorporating sounds in terms common to French and

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<v Speaker 1>Spanish as well, Alpha, bravo, coca, delta, etcetera. But this

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<v Speaker 1>version was only used in civil aviation, while NATO and

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<v Speaker 1>military forces continued to use the traditional Able Baker. Potentially confusing,

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<v Speaker 1>so in nineteen fifty six, NATO Allies decided to adopt

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<v Speaker 1>one phonetic alphabet for all members to use, changing only

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<v Speaker 1>a few of the words from the revised version. It's

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<v Speaker 1>the phonetic alphabet still used today. In full. It goes Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, golf,

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<v Speaker 1>hotel in Juliette, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, whiskey,

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<v Speaker 1>x Ray, Yankee, and Zulu. This alphabet is used pretty

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<v Speaker 1>much anywhere the clear audio communication is of the highest

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<v Speaker 1>importance and English is being spoken. Military forces, emergency services,

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<v Speaker 1>disaster response teams, civil aviation organizations, and even most amateur

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<v Speaker 1>radio operators all use the phonetic alphabet to spell out

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<v Speaker 1>critical terms. Today's episode is based on the article Alpha, Bravo, Charlie,

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<v Speaker 1>Where did the phonetic alphabet come from? On how Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot Com? Written by Kristen Hall Geisler. A brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership with

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff Works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang.

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