Text to Morse Code

Morse code represents each letter, digit, and some punctuation as a sequence of dots (.) and dashes (-). Dots are short signals; dashes are three times as long. Characters are separated by a short pause (1 unit), words by a medium pause (3 units), and sentences by a long pause (7 units). The International Morse Code (ITU) defines 26 letters, 10 digits, and common punctuation marks.

The letter E is the most common in English and has the shortest Morse code: a single dot (.). Second is T: a single dash (-). S is three dots (...) and O is three dashes (---), giving SOS its distinctive pattern. Morse code was designed so that the most common letters have the shortest codes, making fast transmission efficient.

SOS (... --- ...) is the international distress signal. It is not an acronym for "Save Our Ship" or "Save Our Souls" — those are retronyms. SOS was chosen because it is easy to send and recognize: three dots, three dashes, three dots. The ITU adopted it in 1906 as a universal distress signal. In practice, MAYDAY (spoken) and SOS (transmitted) are the two main distress signals.

In standard text Morse, a single space separates letters and three spaces (or a slash /) separate words. To decode: split on word separators (/ or 3 spaces), then split each word on single spaces to get individual character codes. Look up each code in the Morse alphabet table to get the letter, then join letters into words and words into sentences.

Morse code is still used in aviation (VOR/NDB beacon identifiers), amateur (ham) radio (required knowledge in many countries), emergency signaling with a flashlight, accessibility tools for people with limited mobility (one button can input full text), and niche military applications. Many people also learn it as a survival skill or hobby. Some modern smartwatches support Morse input.