Morse Code Punctuation

Most Morse messages are letters and numbers, but punctuation has a full set of codes too. They tend to be longer — five or six signals — because they're used less often.

Common punctuation

Which ones actually get used

In practice, a handful do most of the work:

• The period .-.-.-, comma --..--, and question mark ..--.. cover ordinary writing.
• The slash -..-. separates things like call signs or fractions.
• The @ sign .--.-. is the newest addition — it was officially added in 2004 so email addresses could be sent in Morse.

A couple of these codes double as prosigns (procedural signals). The equals sign -...- is sent as the "BT" prosign to mark a new section or paragraph, and the plus sign .-.-. is the "AR" prosign meaning "end of message."

Reading a punctuated message

Punctuation follows the same spacing as everything else — one gap between characters, a slash for word breaks. For example, HELLO? is:

.... . .-.. .-.. --- ..--..

The final six-signal group is the question mark.

Slash as punctuation versus a word separator

The slash can mean two different things in written Morse references. A slash with spaces around it is commonly used on a screen or page to show the seven-unit gap between words; it is not transmitted as a character. The actual slash character has the five-signal code -..-. and is separated from nearby letters in the normal way.

For example, this site's written format for A B is .- / -..., where / marks a word gap. To encode the literal text A/B, the result is .- -..-. -.... Keeping that distinction clear prevents one of the most common errors when Morse is copied from text.

Punctuation and procedural signals

Some identical patterns have a procedural meaning when sent continuously. The pattern .-.-. is the plus sign when used as punctuation, but radio operators also recognize it as the AR prosign for “end of message.” Likewise, -...- can represent an equals sign or the BT separator. Context and spacing tell the listener which meaning is intended.

Prosigns are not ordinary pairs of letters: their parts run together with no three-unit letter gap. The abbreviations and prosigns guide explains AR, BT, SK, CQ, 73, and other common operating shortcuts.

Are accented letters included?

International and national extensions exist for several accented letters, but they are not all part of the basic A–Z set and support varies between tools and operators. For an unambiguous message, transliterate an unsupported character to the nearest basic Latin spelling. The translator reports unsupported input instead of silently inventing a code.

Want to see a symbol in context? Type it straight into the translator and it will encode instantly, or scan the complete Morse code chart for the full set in one place.