The Morse Code symbols and sounds

The Morse Code

The popular view of Morse code (aka CW, Continuous Wave) as a collection of dots and dashes is the first thing one must forget when trying to learn morse code! For this reason, you will not find the usual table of letters and their corresponding dot/dash equivalents. What you will see is a table of the letters and their sound equivalents.

It is far better to learn to associate a letter with a sound from the beginning, rather than trying to translate the sound into a letter via dots and dashes. The table below shows the sounds for the letters, numbers, punctuation and some of the common procedural signals often used in amateur radio contacts.
The Letters of the alphabet
A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

 di-dah

dah-di-di-dit

dah-di-dah-dit

dah-di-dit

dit

di-di-dah-dit

dah-dah-dit

di-di-di-dit

di-dit

di-dah-dah-dah

dah-di-dah

di-dah-di-dit

dah-dah

 N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

 dah-dit

dah-dah-dah

di-dah-dah-dit

dah-dah-di-dah

di-dah-dit

di-di-dit

dah

di-dit-dah

di-di-di-dah

di-dah-dah

dah-di-di-dah

dah-di-dah-dah

dah-dah-di-dit
The Numbers
1

2

3

4

5

 di-dah-dah-dah-dah

di-di-dah-dah-dah

di-di-di-dah-dah

di-di-di-di-dah

di-di-di-di-dit

 6

7

8

9

0

 dah-di-di-di-dit

dah-dah-di-di-dit

dah-dah-dah-di-dit

dah-dah-dah-dah-dit

dah-dah-dah-dah-dah
Punctuation
Question Mark

Full Stop (Period)

Comma

 di-di-dah-dah-di-dit

di-dah-di-dah-di-dah

dah-dah-di-di-dah-dah
Procedural Signals
Stroke (/)

Break Sign (= or BT)

End of Message (+ or AR)

End of Work (SK)

Error

Wait (AS)

Open invitation to transmit (K)

Invitation to named station (KN)

Closing Station (CL)

 dah-di-di-dah-dit

dah-di-di-di-dah

di-dah-di-dah-dit

di-di-di-dah-di-dah

di-di-di-di-di-di-di-dit

di-dah-di-di-dit

dah-di-dah

dah-di-dah-dah-dit

dah-di-dah-di-di-dah-di-dit