<communications> A coding system invented by Samuel A. Morse,
for use in sending character data over extremely low-quality
pathways -- such as telegraphs and low-quality radio. Morse
code expresses characters as pulses of different durations.
Short signals are called "dots" and long signals are calles
"dashes". The coding assigns shorter sequences to the most
frequently used characters.
American Morse code is the first and original Morse code
character set. Character sets adapted to other languages
were developed later.
American Morse Code:
A . __ J . . S . . . 1 . __ __ .
B __ . . . K __ . __ T __ 2 . . __ . .
C . . . L ___ U . . __ 3 . . . __ .
D __ . . M __ __ V . . . __ 4 . . . . __
E . N __ . W . __ __ 5 __ __ __
F . __ . O . . X . __ . . 6 . . . . . .
G __ __ . P . . . . . Y . . . . 7 __ __ . .
H . . . . Q . . __ . Z . . . . 8 __ . . . .
I . . R . . . 0 ____ 9 __ . . __
Where . is a short pulse, __ a long pulse, ___ a very long
pulse and ____ a extra long pulse. There are also long and
short spaces character-internal. Intercharacter spaces are
very long and interword spaces are extra long. There is no
standarisation in these durations, and they vary depending on
the coder's preference and on the quality of the line.
Continental Morse Code or International Morse Code is a widely
used de-facto standard. This table summarises the Western
European usage of Continental Morse Code:
A .- G --. M -- S ... Y -.-- 4 ....-
B -... H .... N -. T - Z --.. 5 .....
C -.-. I .. O --- U ..- 0 ----- 6 -....
D -.. J .--- P .--. V ...- 1 .---- 7 --...
E . K -.- Q --.- W .-- 2 ..--- 8 ---..
F ..-. L .-.. R .-. X -..- 3 ...-- 9 ----.
A-umlaut (1) .-.- E-acute ..-..
A-acute .--.- N-tilde --.--
A-corona (11) .--.- O-umlaut (1) ---.
CH (2) ---- U-umlaut (1) ..--
Punctuation Marks: Other Signs:
period .-.-.- warning .-..-
comma --..-- error ........
question mark ..--.. repetition (ii ii) .. ..
hyphen -....- wait (AS) .-...
colon (3) ---... interruption (BK) -...-.-
underline (4) ..--.- understood (VE) ...-.
apostrophe .----. transmission received (R) .-.
quotation mark .-..-. beginning of message (KA) -.-.-
parenthesis open (5)-.--. end of message (AR) .-.-.
parenthesis (close) -.--.- end of transmission (K) (6) -.-
equal sign (7) -...- end of transmission (KN) (8) -.--.
plus sign .-.-. closing mark (SK) (9) ...-.-
multiplication sign -..- closing station (CL) -.-..-.
fraction mark -..-.
separator (10) .-..-
(1) Note: 'umlaut' is also known as 'diaeresis'
(2) Used only in German; not in Dutch.
(3) also: 'divided by'
(4) before and after the word to be underlined
(5) purportedly replaced by -.--.- for both "(" and ")"
(6) both and invitation to any station to start transmission
(7) also used as spacing between parts of transmission
(8) also an invitation to one station in particular to start
transmission
(9) connection will be closed.
(10) in fractions, for example.
(11) A-ring ?
Where '.' is a short pulse, '-' a long one. A '-' is three
times as long as a '.'; character-internal spaces are as long
as '.'s. Intercharacter space are as long as -'s. Spaces
between words are as long as seven '.'s.
(1996-11-23)
Nearby terms:
MORAL « moria « morphing « Morse code » MORTRAN » MOS » Mosaic
