Phonetic alphabet pronunciation - Is it Puppa or Pah-Pah?

I was always trained to say ‘Pah-Pah’ with the accent on the second syllable, but flying on Vatsim, especially around UK, everyone seems to pronounce ‘P’ as ‘Puppa’.
Has this pronunciation changed over time or just differently interpreted and accepted now?

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Google is your friend.

yes and if you type phonetic alphabet pronunciation, it clearly says ‘Pah Pah’…hence my question

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Now, try to find a video on YouTube with Pah-PAX:)))

I pretend to be from Boston. It’s Paw Paw.

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In “English (British) Accent” it should sound something like this –

Phonetic Alphabet Pronounciation

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I noticed the P but then Q should have been pronounced KEHBECK not QWEBECK too!!!
see NATO Phonetic Alphabet (Alpha, Bravo Charlie, Delta...) - Worldometer

Consider it a WIN, when people actually , at least, use the correct words ..

as opposed to

  • Apple
  • Boy
  • Cat
  • Dog
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Technically, it is pronounced “Pop Pah”, though only some people call it that way.

Same same “Kay bek” and even “Tree” (i.e. not three).

And then there’s always “Niner”

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indeed!!! good point

yes. I didn’t go that far but you’re right

Tree and Niner, also Fife, are absolutely correct. It is not that some say these, these are how they should be said.

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Pop-Pah might be your Dad mate - then it may be ‘technically’ correct but, as an ex Air Force guy who used the phonetic alphabet in every day life (and still do - old habits die hard), not just when airborne, I can tell you that 'technically, it is ‘papa’ with hard P and hard A. Also, ‘tree’, ‘fife’ and ‘niner’ are not part of any alphabet :wink:

Of course - local accents etc may change the technically correct so, in truth, whatever floats your boat as long as it is comprehensible.

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Just want to mate sure you have correct info here about the numbers. Tree, Fife, Niner are 100% part of the official aviation phonetics.

https://aviationenglish.com/radiotelephony/icao-numbers

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The OP references the “phonetic alphabet” - digits are not part of any alphabet. I don’t dispute the pronunciations and the fact that they are part of the ICAO, NATO, FAA and CAA codes but, as your reference says “Pronunciation of numbers used in flight operations” and also, in CAP 413 (CAA Publication), the pronunciation of numbers is laid out in a table separate from that of letters.

I’ve never heard ‘tree.’ I have heard ‘thuh-REE,’ which is what I strive to use.

LOL, no that’s not what I called my dad. :wink:

It’s funny when we pedants try to out pedant each other! :joy:

The spellings of how the alphabet (yes, and numbers) should be pronounced are as listed in the various documents above.

But, having flown mil and civ for about 35 years, and speaking anecdotally of course…

A. Two pilots/controllers in ten are going to use some of the proper pronunciations.

B. One of those two are going to use all the proper pronunciations, and

C. Exactly zero of either party is going to correct them as long as the communication is understood.

So, yes, you should absolutely use correct terminology. But don’t be surprised if no one else does.

And we shouldn’t be a tool about it. We’re Buck Rogers…not E. E. Cummings! :joy:

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Thats only for germany though because 9 sounds like ‘NIEN’ which is ‘NO’ IN GERMAN so they are forced to say ‘NINER’

man English is weird…and it’s my native tongue!

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