See:
- In telecommunication, a phonetic alphabet is a list of standard words used to identify letters in a message transmitted by voice (including over radio, telephone, etc.). Occasionally known as a "radio alphabet". See NATO phonetic alphabet, Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet, RAF phonetic alphabet, LAPD phonetic alphabet.
- In phonetics, a phonetic alphabet is a writing system used for transcribing the sounds of human speech into writing. See International Phonetic Alphabet and SAMPA, the ASCII version.