Morse Code

Morse code is an encoding system that represents letters and numbers with sequences of short (dots) and long (dashes) signals. Developed by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail in the 1830-1840s, it was used for telegraphy and remains in use for emergency communications.

Each character is separated by a space, each word by three spaces (represented here as /). The dot (.) is the short signal, the dash (-) the long signal. E.g.: .... . .-.. .-.. --- = HELLO. In audio, the dot lasts 1 unit, the dash 3 units.

Actually, SOS (... --- ...) was chosen because it was easy to transmit and recognize, not as an acronym. Only later was it retroactively associated with "Save Our Souls" or "Save Our Ship". It was the international distress signal standard from 1906 to 1999.

Each letter is a sequence of dots and dashes. A dash lasts three times a dot, the gap between signals is one dot, between letters three and between words seven. That timing is what makes it readable by ear.

Digits from 0 to 9 have their own five signal sequences, and the common punctuation marks have codes too. Characters with no Morse equivalent, such as accented letters, are left out of the conversion.

Because Morse was made to be heard, not read. Playing it back is the only way to check the rhythm, and it is how anyone learning the code actually learns it, rather than memorising dots on a page.

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