You might have noticed that often when you call into a Dutch office, the receptionist who answers will reconfirm your name and address using a phonetic alphabet. The phone alphabet is a list of 27 Dutch names, each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. When spoken out loud, each Dutch name represents the letter that it begins with. The Dutch Phone alphabet is most commonly used during telephone calls when it is easy to mishear names, addresses and words spoken by callers.
| Letter | Letter name | Spelling alphabet |
|---|---|---|
| A | [aː] | Anton |
| B | [beː] | Bernhard |
| C | [seː] | Cornelis |
| D | [deː] | Dirk |
| E | [eː] | Eduard |
| F | [ɛf] | Ferdinand |
| G | [ɣeː] | Gerard |
| H | [ɦaː] | Hendrik |
| I | [i] | Izaak |
| J | [jeː] | Jan |
| K | [kaː] | Karel |
| L | [ɛɫ] | Lodewijk/Leo |
| M | [ɛm] | Maria |
| N | [ɛn] | Nico |
| O | [oː] | Otto |
| P | [peː] | Pieter |
| Q | [ky] | Quirinus/Quinten |
| R | [ɛɾ] | Richard/Rudolf |
| S | [ɛs] | Simon |
| T | [teː] | Theo/Theodoor |
| U | [y] | Utrecht |
| V | [veː] | Victor |
| W | [ʋeː] | Willem |
| X | [ɪks] | Xantippe |
| Y | [ɛɪ] | Ypsilon |
| IJ | [ɛɪ] | IJmuiden/IJsbrand |
| Z | [zɛt] | Zacharias |
Kan jij jouw naam even spellen? Can you spell your name?
Mijn naam is Philippe:
| Letter | van (of) | Spelling alphabet |
|---|---|---|
| P | van | Pieter |
| H | van | Hendrik |
| I | van | Izaak |
| L | van | Lodewijk |
| P | van | Pieter |
| P | van | Pieter |
| E | van | Eduard |
Kan jij jouw naam even spellen? Can you spell your name? Post your answers in the comments below this Youtube video >