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Apostrophe (') in Morse Code

Copy the Morse code for Apostrophe ('), hear it played back, or open it in the translator to edit it.

Apostrophe (')
.----.
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Letter by letter

How "Apostrophe (')" is built in Morse

Apostrophe (') is 1 character — 2 dots and 4 dashes in all. Here is each letter with its Morse code so you can send or write it one symbol at a time:

' .----.

Sending Apostrophe (') by sound or light

Apostrophe (') is 19 Morse units long, counting a 1-unit gap inside each character. At a beginner's 5 words per minute that is 4.6 seconds of signal; an experienced operator at 25 WPM sends it in 0.9 seconds.

Speed5 WPM13 WPM20 WPM25 WPM
Time to send4.6 s1.8 s1.1 s0.9 s

Easily confused with

One dot or dash separates Apostrophe (') from each of these. They are the likeliest misreadings when copying by ear.

What the standard says

Apostrophe (') is part of International Morse code: Recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1 lists .----. under the name “Apostrophe”. After figures it is used for the minute and second signs: 1′15″ is sent with the apostrophe once, then twice.

Compare every symbol on the punctuation chart.

How to read it

The format in one line

Dot
.   one short signal (1 unit)
Dash
-   one long signal (3 units)
Letter gap
a single space between letters (3 units)
Word gap
/   with surrounding spaces (7 units)

Keep going

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