The photoluminescence properties and energy transfer of the Eu(2+) and Mn(2+) co-doped Sr(3)Y(PO(4))(3) phosphors are investigated in detail. Two main emission bands attributed to the Eu(2+) and Mn(2+) ions are observed under UV light excitation via an efficient energy transfer process. When the Eu(2+) doping content is fixed, the emission chromaticity can be varied by simply adjusting the content of Mn(2+). The study of the behavior as a function of doping concentration indicates that the warm white-light can be obtained in a single host lattice. Furthermore, the analysis of the fluorescence decay curves based on the Inokuti-Hirayama theoretical model reveals that the dipole-quadrupole interaction is mainly responsible for the energy transfer mechanism from the Eu(2+) to Mn(2+) ions in the Sr(3)Y(PO(4))(3) phosphor. The developed phosphor exhibits a strong absorption in UV spectral region and white-light emission which may find utility as a single-component white-light-emitting UV-convertible phosphor in white LED devices.