Morse Code Alphabet

A dot is a dit, a short signal one unit long; a dash is a dah, three units long. Say them out loud instead of spelling them: A is di-dah, B is dah-di-di-dit, K is dah-di-dah. That sound is what you will actually meet.

The codes are not random: the most common letters got the shortest codes. E is a single dit and T a single dah, while rare letters like Q and Y take four signals.

Memorizing the chart teaches you to see dots and dashes and translate them in your head. That works for the first few words per minute, then hits a wall: at around 10 WPM a letter is over before you have finished counting it.

Operators read Morse the way you hear words. Each letter has a shape in sound that they recognize at once. The Koch method trains exactly that, starting at full speed with just two letters.

Try the first lesson →

Prosigns are procedure signals sent as a single character and written with a bar over the letters. Sending them as separate letters would change their meaning, so the gaps between the letters are left out.

Wabun is the Japanese Morse code for kana. It reuses the same patterns as the Latin alphabet, so operators announce the switch with a prosign. Voiced sounds add a mark: ガ is カ followed by ゛ (di-dit), and パ is ハ followed by ゜.