Morse code punctuation and special characters
Every punctuation mark and accented letter morse can send, made of dits (short signals) and dahs (long ones, three times as long). Tap one to hear it.
Sign by sign
ITU-R M.1677-1, the international standard, defines 13 of the 18 punctuation marks and one accented letter, É. The rest are in common use, and this site sends them as shown. A prosign, a signal operators use to run a contact, shares its code with 4 of the marks.
Punctuation marks
.Period
.-.-.-
- Said
- di-dah-di-dah-di-dah
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
,Comma
--..--
- Said
- dah-dah-di-di-dah-dah
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
?Question mark
..--..
- Said
- di-di-dah-dah-di-dit
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
ITU-R M.1677-1 gives it a second job: sent on its own, it asks for a repeat of a transmission that wasn’t understood.
'Apostrophe
.----.
- Said
- di-dah-dah-dah-dah-dit
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
After figures, ITU-R M.1677-1 sends it once for the minute sign and twice for the second sign.
!Exclamation mark
-.-.--
- Said
- dah-di-dah-di-dah-dah
- Standard
- Common use
/Slash
-..-.
- Said
- dah-di-di-dah-dit
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
ITU-R M.1677-1 calls it the fraction bar, and builds the percent sign out of it.
(Open parenthesis
-.--.
- Said
- dah-di-dah-dah-dit
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
- Same as
- The prosign KN
)Close parenthesis
-.--.-
- Said
- dah-di-dah-dah-di-dah
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
&Ampersand
.-...
- Said
- di-dah-di-di-dit
- Standard
- Common use
- Same as
- The prosign AS
:Colon
---...
- Said
- dah-dah-dah-di-di-dit
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
;Semicolon
-.-.-.
- Said
- dah-di-dah-di-dah-dit
- Standard
- Common use
=Double hyphen
-...-
- Said
- dah-di-di-di-dah
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
- Same as
- The prosign BT
ITU-R M.1677-1 uses it to separate the parts of a telegram, such as the address from the text and the text from the signature. Sent for that job, it is the prosign BT.
+Plus
.-.-.
- Said
- di-dah-di-dah-dit
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
- Same as
- The prosign AR
ITU-R M.1677-1 calls it the cross and ends every telegram with it. Sent for that job, it is the prosign AR.
-Hyphen
-....-
- Said
- dah-di-di-di-di-dah
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
It is also the subtraction sign, and ITU-R M.1677-1 uses it to join a whole number to a fraction.
_Underscore
..--.-
- Said
- di-di-dah-dah-di-dah
- Standard
- Common use
"Quotation mark
.-..-.
- Said
- di-dah-di-di-dah-dit
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
It goes before and after the quoted words. Where a code converter can’t send it, ITU-R M.1677-1 allows two apostrophes on each side instead.
$Dollar sign
...-..-
- Said
- di-di-di-dah-di-di-dah
- Standard
- Common use
@At sign
.--.-.
- Said
- di-dah-dah-di-dah-dit
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
The newest sign in the table: ITU added it to the code in 2004, for email addresses.
Accented letters
ÉAccented e
..-..
- Said
- di-di-dah-di-dit
- Standard
- ITU-R M.1677-1
The only accented letter in ITU-R M.1677-1. Ä, Ö, Ü, Ñ, Ç, Ş, Ğ and CH are in common use but not in the standard. Other accented vowels, like the Italian È or the Spanish Á, have no code in the standard, so this site sends them as the plain vowel.
ÄA umlaut
.-.-
- Said
- di-dah-di-dah
- Standard
- Common use
ÖO umlaut
---.
- Said
- dah-dah-dah-dit
- Standard
- Common use
ÜU umlaut
..--
- Said
- di-di-dah-dah
- Standard
- Common use
ÑN tilde
--.--
- Said
- dah-dah-di-dah-dah
- Standard
- Common use
ÇC cedilla
-.-..
- Said
- dah-di-dah-di-dit
- Standard
- Common use
ŞS cedilla
.--..
- Said
- di-dah-dah-di-dit
- Standard
- Common use
ĞG breve
--.-.
- Said
- dah-dah-di-dah-dit
- Standard
- Common use
CHCH
----
- Said
- dah-dah-dah-dah
- Standard
- Common use
Signs morse has no code for
ITU-R M.1677-1 sends these with the signs it does have. The mono line under each drawing is what goes out.
2-0/0
1-3/4
1'15''
X
Numbers and punctuation chart
0 to 9 and every punctuation mark on one printable sheet, drawn to the same scale as this page.
Open the printable chart page for the ink-saver version and the other five sheets.
Questions
Does morse code have periods?
Yes. The period, which ITU-R M.1677-1 calls the full stop, is di-dah-di-dah-di-dah: a dit and a dah three times over.
Is there morse code for a question mark?
Yes: di-di-dah-dah-di-dit. Sent on its own, it also asks the other station to repeat something that wasn’t understood.
Does morse code have commas?
Yes. The comma is dah-dah-di-di-dah-dah, two dits with two dahs either side.
What is the morse code for an exclamation mark?
ITU-R M.1677-1, the international standard, has no exclamation mark. The code in common use, and the one this site sends, is dah-di-dah-di-dah-dah.
How do you send a space in morse code?
With silence: there is no mark for a space. ITU-R M.1677-1 leaves a gap of seven units between words, against three between letters, and a unit is one dit long.
More morse tools
- Morse code alphabet
A to Z, each letter played aloud, with how to say it.
- Morse code prosigns
AR, SK, KN and the other signals sent as one character.
- Morse code numbers
The digits 0 to 9, each played aloud, and a box for any number.
Sources
- Codes and timing follow Recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1 (10/2009), International Morse code (International Telecommunication Union, 2009).