The language of aviation has evolved constantly since I started in ATC in 64. Words and phrases came, and subsequently went again, as "correct phraseology" reacted to incidents where confusion could have existed.
Phonetics were but one element of that evolution: words were deleted from the lexicon in case they could be misinterpreted, or their use was confined to very specific messages. The use [or not] of "to" is, perhaps, the classic example.
Some 50 years later, evolution still hasn't achieved the ideal. And blinkered vision will prevent any progress towards that desirable objective.