A New Phonetic Alphabet: For those who don't like Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, …

Letters (A–Z)

A as in Alpha

pref: aural or aubergine

letter: aitch(H), are(R), aye(I)

homophone: air(ere, err, heir and Eyre), aisle(I'll and isle), ait/ate(eight,8-ball), aught(ought), auld(old), aural(oral) [source], auks/aux/awks(ox)[aux is an abbreviation of auxillary] (Source: this might be from Martha Wells in Network Effect), awed(odd)

variants: aeon/eon, aerie/aery/airy/eyrie, aesthetic/esthetic, afreet/afrit/efreet/ifrit

silent initial letter^*: aeon or aesthete

analogue: chemical symbol for Silver (Ag) or Gold (Au)

[misc.]: aegis, any(N.E.), au courant, au lait(Olé), aubergine, aura, auto(Otto)

B as in Bravo

B: pref: bdellium; silent initial letter: bdellium; description: the insect that makes honey (apian); analogue: 300 in medieval Roman numerals [source (Alan Connor in the Gaurdian)]; [misc.]: baryon number [source (Alan Connor in the Gaurdian)], are/esse/exist/is (as in be) [via an anonymous friend]

C as in Charlie

C

pref: cue or canine

letter: cay(K) or cue(Q)

homophone: catarrh(Qatar), cay(key/quay), cede(seed), ceiling(sealing), cell(sell), cellar(seller), censor(sensor), cent(sent/scent), cereal(serial), chaos(KAOS), Chi.(shy), chic(sheik), choir(quire), chute(shoot), cite(sight/site), city(sitee), cling on(Klingon), coal(kohl), coy(koi), crew(krewe), cue(Kew/queue), curd(Kurd), curt(Kurt), cygnet(signet), cymbal(symbol), or cynophobia(sinophobia) [credit BBC's Brain of Britain (radio quiz programme) Semi-Final 1, 2023]

variants: caffetan/cafetan/coftan/kaftan, carat/karat, catsup/ketchup, ceratin/keratin, cissy/sissy, cistvaen/kistvaen, curb/kerb, cashmere/Kashmir?, csar/czar/tsar/tzar [source: Lynne Murphy (Linguist at Univ. Sussex)]

silent initial letter: ctenophora, chthonic or cnidaria

double letter phoneme: Chablis, chabazite, chai, charisma, chasm, Chianti, chorus

analogue: big, blue wobbly thing that mermaids live in [source: Ink and Incapability episode of Black Adder the Third (by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton) [record at imdb.com] [clip on YouTube] via an anonymous friend], ¢/d/penny [see note below], (One) hundred in Roman numerals

name: Caleigh, Carol(Karol), Catherine(Katherine), C. D.[as in C. D. Howe](seedy), Chagas disease, Cher(share), Cheryl(Sheryl), Chris(Kris), Cisco^® [computer networks company](Sysco^® [food services corporation]), Cuba, Cy[as in the late Cy Young](Greek letter psi[ψ and Ψ]/sigh) or Cyd [as in the late Cyd Charisse](Sid)

[misc.]: canine, ceilidh, celery, Celtic, chaeta, chimera, chi (χ and Χ, see also X and note that Chi. is an abbreviation for Chicago often pronounced identically to shy), cigar or cucumber

D as in Delta

D: pref: djin or double-U; letter: double-U; homophone: djin(gin); analogue: Five hundred in Roman numerals, penny/pence [source (Alan Connor in the Gaurdian)][See also note about ¢ under C]; name: Django; [misc.]: dollar sign($, see S)

E as in Echo

E: pref: ewe or eye; letter: eh(A), eks(X), el/ell(L), em(M), en(N), ewe(U), eye(I); homophone: eye(aye), earn(urn), eight(ait/ate), em (unit), ewe(you/yew), ere/err(air, heir, Eyre), err(Ur)[see note under U], eave/eve(Yves), ewer(your/you're), ex (unit) or eyelet(islet); variants: efreet/afreet/afrit/ifrit empty (if pronounced with a silent p to sound like the abbreviation M.T.), eon/aeon, eyrie/aery/aerie(airy), esthetic/aesthetic, either(with an initial long-E or long-I); analogue: 250 in medieval Roman numerals [source (Alan Connor in the Gaurdian)], former spouse (ex-); name: Eileen (when pronounced with an initial long-I), Ellen, Erin(Aaron), Euler (as in Leonhard Euler), Eugene, Eunice, Eve(Yves), Ewa(Ava) [link to pronunciation note (at www.pronouncenames.com)], Eyre (literary character and novel by Charlotte Brontë); homograph: see note about Err, under U; [misc.]: eau-de-Cologne, effluent, eider, elbow, elegiac, elevator, embrace, emcee(M.C.), emend, Emmy(M.E.)[as in Emmy Award], English, envy(N.V.), escalator, eucalyptus (and eukaryote, eunuchs(Unix™) and Eureka etc.), excel(X.L.), excess(X.S.), explain, extra-large(XL), exquisite, euthanasia(youth in Asia), (or earl?); [note]: Euston (the station) and Houston (the municipality), although similar, are pronounced differently

F as in Foxtrot

F: pref: faze; homophone: faro(pharaoh), faze(phase), felt(veld), few(phew), fie(phi), file(phial), fill(Phil), filly[young female horse](Philly [colloquialism for city of Philadelphia]), fish(Phish), flocks(phlox); variants: fantasm(phantasm) [source (Everett Howe)]; analogue: chemical symbol for Iron (Fe); [note]: according to the OED: faux and pho are pronounced differently (as of 2022-02-23)

G as in Golf

G: pref: gneiss; homophone: gneiss(nice), gibe(jibe), genes(jeans), gest(jest), gym(jim) or gnu(new/nu/knew)[Nu as in the Greek letter, ν, not the interjection]; variants: gaol/jail, geez/jeez, gel/jell[see note under J]; silent initial letter: gnarl, gnat, gnaw(nah/naw), gnocchi or gnu(knew/new/nu); analogue: (one) thousand [a grand is slang for a thousand dollars] (see also K & M); name: Gennifer [as in Gennifer Flowers] (Jennifer), Geoffrey(Jeffrey), Geri(Jerry)[as in Geri Halliwell], German(Jermyn)[as in London's Jermyn St], Gerry(Jerry)[as in Gerry Adams], Gilles(Jill/gill) [link to sound file with pronunciation (from the Internet Archive's cache of about.com) & (see note about gill below)], Gzowski [as in the late CBC radio and TV show host Peter Gzowski]; homograph: see note about gill, below; [misc.]: gill(Gilles/Jill), gym(Jim), gyro; [note]: gill has a soft-G (J-like) sound when referring to the liquid measure but a hard-G when referring to breathing organs [source: The OCEL, p. 261]

H as in Hotel

H

pref: heir

homophone: heir(air/ere/err/Eyre?), hoard/horde(whored), hole(whole) or hour(our & are)

silent first letter: honour, heir or hoard

analogue: aspiration(in phonetics), Eta (capital Greek letter η is the same grapheme as H in the Roman alphabet) or chemical symbol for Mercury [Hg]

I as in India

I: pref: isle; homophone: isle/I'll(aisle), islet(eyelet) or won (as an analogue for one); variants: ifrit/afreet/afrit/efreet; description: The perpendicular pronoun from The Skeleton in the Cupboard [an episode of the TV programme Yes Minister by Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn] or me; analogue: Current(currant) from Physics, One (in Roman numerals and on some old typewriters, also a homophone for won); name: I Ching, Iago, Ida (when pronounced with an initial long-E), Iwo Jima; [misc.]: ieie, iiwi, ilala or imprévu

J as in Juliet

J

pref: jai alai or juan

homophone: jaeger/jäger(Yeager), jeans(genes), jim(gym), jibe(gibe) or jest(gest)

variants: jail/gaol, jeez/geez, jell/gel [see note below], joozh/tjuzs/zhoosh [see note below]

name: Jeffrey(Geoffrey), Jennifer(Gennifer), Jermyn(German)[as in London's Jermyn St], Jerry(Geri/Gerry), Jian[as in musician and former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi], Jill(Gilles/gill [see note about gill]), Jim(gym), Jimenez [link to pronunciation note (at www.pronouncenames.com)], Johannes [as in Johannes Brahms], Juan(wan)

[misc.]: jaeger/jäger, jai alai, jipijapa [source (Everett Howe)], jojoba, junta

[notes]

The letter J is often called jay, rhyming with say, to match the pronounciation of K. In Scottish English, it often rhymes with high, to match the pronounciation of I. (as quoted, including italics, from p. 331 of The OCEL).
variants of gel: I didn't think jell was a word but Emily Nussbaum used it in The New Yorker (2013-10-28, p. 85)
variants of zhoosh: Joozh is a variant according to the OED Online (Entry #248070 first published in the 3rd ed., Dec. 2005); tjuzs is reported as a variant by Allan Metcalf writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education's Lingua Franca blog 15 March 2017) (entry titled A Dash of Zhouzh)
gill has a soft-G (J-like) sound (like the names Gilles and Jill) when referring to the liquid measure but a hard-G when referring to breathing organs [source: The OCEL, p. 261]

K as in Kilo

K: pref: Kew or potassium; homophone: KAOS(chaos)[see Wikipedia's disambiguation page for many meanings of KAOS], kernel(colonel), key(cay/quay), knave(nave), knead(need), knew(gnu/new/nu), knight(night), knit(nit), knob(nob), knock(nock), knot(not, naught, or nought), know(no), knows(nose), kohl(coal), koi(coy) or krewe(crew); variants: kaftan/caffetan/cafetan/coftan, karat/carat, Kashmir/cashmere?, keratin/ceratin, kerb/curb, ketchup/catsup, kistvaen/cistvaen, Koran/Quran; silent initial letter: knight, knife, knit, know or knot; analogue: chemical symbol for Potassium (K) or (one) thousand [SI prefix] (see also G & M); name: keto(Quito), Kew(cue/queue/Q)[as in Kew Gardens], Klingon(cling on), kneel(Neal/Neil/Niel), knoll(Nöel), Karol(Carol) [as in the late Karol Castillo], and Kris(Chris), Kurd(curd), Kurt(curt); [note]: some people pronounce English words that begin with C but are derived from Greek words beginning with Κ with a hard-C (K) sound rather than a soft-C (S-like) sound. Two examples are cephalopod and Celtic.

L as in Lima

L: pref: 50 or pound; analogue: Fifty in Roman numerals [source], pound (Lb. or £); [misc.]: Llinás?

M as in Mike

M: pref: mnemonic; silent initial letter: mbaqanga or mnemonic; analogue: (One) thousand in Roman numerals (see also G & K)]; [misc.]: M.C.(emcee) or M.E.(Emmy)[as abbrev. for medical examiner e.g.]; [note]: M.T. and empty, can be pronounced identically, although I don't

N as in November

N: pref: nave or new; homophone: nah/naw(gnaw), nave(knave), new/nu (gnu/knew), night(knight), nit(knit), no(know), nob(knob), nock(knock), nose(knows), or not/naught/nought (knot); silent initial letter: ngultrum [source (Ben Teitelbaum's The Devil's Alphabet website)]; analogue: Chemical symbol for Sodium (Na); name: Neil/Niel(kneel) [see Dilbert cartoon for 1989-08-01], Noël[as in Noël Coward](knoll); [misc.]: N.E.(any), Mozilla[Remember, it's spelled N-E-T-S-C-A-P-E but it's pronounced: Mozilla], sorry I couldn't find a definitive source to confirm, N.V./NV(envy) [NV is the USPS abbreviation for Nevada]

O as in Oscar

O: pref: ours or zero; letter: our & are(R); homophone: old(auld), one(won), odd(awed), oral(aural) [source], ought(aught), ours?(hours) or ox(auks/aux/awks); variants: ousel/ouzel(woosel) [Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 2 III.ii (see David & Ben Crystal's Shakespeare's Words)]; analogue: hug (abbreviation), zero; name: Oedipus, Ouija, Otto(auto); [misc.]: oenophile? oesophagus [source (Malcolm Appleby) see also Wikipedia's list of Latin alphabet digraphs], Olé(au lait), onion?; [note]: according to the OED: awful and offal can be pronounced almost, but not quite, identically

P as in Papa

P: pref: pneumonia or urine [if you must]; homophone: phase(faze), pharaoh(faro), phew(few), phial(file), phlox(flocks), Phish(fish)[the musical troupe], psalter(salter), Greek letter Ψ(Cy/sigh), or Psis [plural of Greek letter Ψ] (sighs,size) [credit Fraser Simpson (The Globe and Mail, 2023-09-23, clue 25D)]; variants: phantasm(fantasm) [source (Everett Howe)]; silent initial letter: pneumonia [source (the great Lily Tomlin, of course)], pneumatic, psalm, psalter, psyche, pseudo-, ptarmigan or pterodactyl etc.; double letter phoneme: phone or pharoah; analogue: pair/pare/pear(two/to/too), chemical symbol for Lead (Pb), Rho (capital Greek letter ρ is the same grapheme as P in the Roman alphabet), urine(a puerile pun, sorry); name: Phil(fill), Phish(fish)[the musical troupe], Philly [colloquialism for city of Philadelphia](filly [young female horse]), Psmith [literary character from P. G. Wodehouse], Ptolemy; [misc.]: penny/¢/d [see note under C], peso sign($, see S), p.h.a.t. [abbreviation for pretty hot and tempting](fat), physics, physique; [note]: phial and vial, although variants of the same word, are pronounced differently

Q as in Quebec

Q: pref: quay; letter: queue/cue/Kew(Q); homophone: quay(cay/key), queue(cue/Kew), quire(choir) or qat(cat); variants: Koran/Quran; analogue: character played by John de Lancie on Star Trek: The Next Generation, etc. or character played by Desmond Llewelyn in many James Bond movies; name: Qaf[transliteration of Arabic letter ق (source: The OCEL, p. 505)] , Qatar(catarrh), Quito(keto) (source: Fraser Simpson in the Globe & Mail during October or November 2024), Quph(Kof)[transliteration of Hebrew letter ק (source: The OCEL, p. 505)]

R as in Romeo

R: pref: rye; letter: R(our & are); homophone: rap(wrap), reck(wreck)?, rest(wrest), right/rite(wright/write), ring(wring), Ritz(writs), rot(wrought), rung(wrung), rye(wry); analogue: ℞ (prescription) [source (Tristan Miller)], Thursday[abbreviation (incredible but true)]; name: Rennes(wren), Rex(wrecks); [misc.]: like a pirate [stereotypical but funny (to my mind) none the less in much the same way that P can be as in urine] or 'rithmetic [one of the three Rs]

S as in Sierra

S: pref: see or serial; letter: sea/see(C) or seize(plural of C); homophone: salter(psalter), scent/sent(cent,¢), sealing(ceiling), seed(cede), seedy(C. D.[as in C. D. Howe]), sell(cell), seller(cellar), sensor(censor), serial(cereal), sheik(chic), shy(Chi. [abbreviation for Chicago]), sigh(Cy/Greek letter psi[ψ and Ψ]), sighs/size (psis [plural of Greek letterΨ]) sight/site(cite), signet(cygnet), sinophobia(cynophobia), sitee(city) or symbol(cymbal); variants: sissy/cissy; analogue: $ (dollar sign or peso sign), Roman numeral fraction for Half [source (Wikipedia (13 July 2022, at 18:46))], chemical symbol for Antinomy [Sb] or Tin [Sn]; name: Sheryl[as in Sheryl Crow](Cheryl), Sid [as in the late Sid Caesar or the late Sid Vicious] (Cyd), Sysco^® [food services corporation] (Cisco^® [computer networks company]); [note]: some people pronounce English words that begin with C but are derived from Greek words beginning with Κ with a hard-C (K) sound rather than a soft-C (S-like) sound. Two examples are cephalopod and Celtic.

T as in Tango

T: pref: tsunami or tsar; variants: tsar/tzar/csar/czar, tjuzs/joozh/zhoosh [see note under J]; silent initial letter: tsunami or tsar; double letter phoneme: tsar; analogue: junction (see also fork as an analogue for Y) or tea [as in Green, Oolong, brewed beverage, 4 (o'clock) etc.] [source (Vicki Rosenzweig and collaborators)], two/to/too(pair/pare/pear) [two as in a pair, and vice versa]; name: Taoism [see Derek Lin's pronunciation note at taoism.net]

U as in Uniform

U

pref: urn or Uighur

homophone: urn(earn), urine(you're in), use(yews/youse)

[misc.]: UConn [abbreviation for University of Connecticut](Yukon), Uighur, uke?

V as in Victor

V: pref: 5; homophone: veld(felt); variants: vakoof/vakuf(wakf/waqf); analogue: Five in Roman numerals [source], see(C) as in vide [source (Alan Connor in the Gaurdian)]; [note]: phial and vial, although variants of the same word, are pronounced differently

W as in Whiskey

W: pref: why or Tungsten; letter: why(Y) and wise(plural of Y)[source: NYT's Connections puzzle #350 by Wyna Liu]; homophone: wan(Juan), whole(hole), whored(hoard/horde), won(one), wrap(rap), wrest(rest), wring(ring), wright/write(right/rite), writs(Ritz), wrought(rot), wrung(rung), or wry(rye); variants: wakf/waqf(vakoof/vakuf), woosel(ousel/ouzel) [see ousel under O]; silent initial letter: whole, whored, wrangle, wrap, wreak, wreck, wrest, wright, wring, write, writs, wrought, wrung or wry?; analogue: chemical symbol for Tungsten [W] [aka Wolfram]; name: Weber[as in Max Weber], wren(Rennes), Wyoming; [misc.]: Whānau

X as in X-ray

X: pref: twitter or xenophobia; homophone: X.L.(excel), X.S.(excess); analogue: XL (extra-large[abbreviation]), Ten in Roman numerals, kiss [abbreviation] also 50 proof, strike etc. [see The Free Dictionary's What does X stand for ? for many meanings of the abbreviation X], Greek letter Chi (see also C); name: Xenon; [misc.]: twitter, xenophobia or xylophone

Y as in Yankee

Y: pref: Ypsilanti or you; letter: you/yew(U); homophone:yew/you(ewe), yews/youse(use) or your/you're(ewer); analogue: fork[as in fork in the road or divining-rod etc. See also junction as an analogue for T] or Upsilon [capital Greek letter υ is the same grapheme as Y in the Roman alphabet]; name: Yugo/Hugo, Yeager [as in Chuck Yeager](jaeger/jäger) Yukon(UConn [abbreviation for University of Connecticut]), Yves(eave/Eve), Yvette or Yvonne; [misc.]: Ypsilanti, Yttrium or Ytterbium; [note]: see also wise (under W)

Z as in Zulu

Z: pref: zhoosh or 2000; variants: zhoosh/joozh/tjuzs [see note under J]; analogue: atomic number [in Chemistry], impedance [in Physics], 2000 in medieval Roman numerals [source: Chamber's Dictionary, 12^th ed.]; name: Zhivago [source (Tristan Miller)]; [misc.]: zee?, zhoosh [source (Wikipedia (20 March 2018, at 13:26))], zhuyin zimu? (or zhuyin), Zoque, zwieback? [source (Everett Howe)], zwitterion?

Digits (0–9)

0: nun; Oh; the operator
1: past of to win; perhaps something to do with BOGO
2: half a ballet dress; as in a two-four (a case of beer or a beer belly = multiple six-packs); pair; bi- sounds like buy etc.; di- sounds like dye etc.
3: as in three for a dollar?; III (Roman numeral sounds somewhat like the exclamation Aye Yai Yai)
4: what people yell on a golf course; IV (Roman numeral sounds like abbreviation for intervenous)
5: as in the number of pins in five-pin bowling???; V (Roman numeral)
6: Latinate sex???; A Greek hex???
7: as in lucky number …; as in Seven ate nine
8: eaten
9: not in German