There is a set of English words which are used, by international agreement, as lerfu words (for the English alphabet) over the radio, or in noisy situations where the utmost clarity is required. Formally they are known as the “ICAO Phonetic Alphabet” , and are used even in non-English-speaking countries.
This table presents the standard English spellings and proposed Lojban versions. The Lojbanizations are not straightforward renderings of the English sounds, but make some concessions both to the English spellings of the words and to the Lojban pronunciations of the lerfu (thus .carlis. bu , not .tcarlis. bu ).
| Alfa | |
| Bravo | |
| Charlie | |
| Delta | |
| Echo | |
| Foxtrot | |
| Golf | |
| Hotel | |
| India | |
| Juliet | |
| Kilo | |
| Lima | |
| Mike | |
| November | |
| Oscar | |
| Papa | |
| Quebec | |
| Romeo | |
| Sierra | |
| Tango | |
| Uniform | |
| Victor | |
| Whiskey | |
| X-ray | |
| Yankee | |
| Zulu |