Ç in Morse code

No. ITU-R M.1677-1 defines the 26 letters A to Z and only one accented letter, É. Ç comes from the national tables of French and Turkish, so operators who share one of those languages know it and others may not.

With a station you don’t know, send C instead. Between two operators who both use Ç, the extension keeps the spelling exact.

French and Turkish tables send Ç with this signal. Polish tables read the same signal as Ć, and Esperanto as Ĉ.

National tables reuse spare signals, so -.-.. is also Ć (Polish) and Ĉ (Esperanto). Each table was made for one language, so the letters never clash at home: read the signal in the language of the message.

Decoders have to pick one letter. The Morse code to English decoder on this site reads the signal as Ç, whichever letter was meant.

Send C, -.-., with a normal letter gap. Every operator can copy it. It takes 11 units, 733 ms at 18 WPM, 2 units shorter than Ç.

A plain C is the usual stand-in, and the word stays easy to read.

• Hear it:

  at 18 WPM one unit lasts 66.7 ms, so Ç takes 867 ms (13 units). Press Play above, slow it to 5 WPM to pick out each element, or turn on Repeat.

• Tap it:

  a short tap for each dot and a press three times as long for each dash, with a dot’s pause between them: long, short, long, short, short.

• Flash it:

  light on for each element, off between them, no faster than 7 WPM. There a unit is 171 ms and Ç takes 2.2 seconds; the Flashlight signaler keeps that pace.

• Write it:

  -.-.. as one group, with a space on each side so it does not run into the next letter.

• Run K and I together with no gap, -.- then .., and you have Ç.
• It is C with one more dot on the end, like the cedilla hanging under the C.
• Learn the sound, not the picture: say dah-di-dah-di-dit until you hear it as one shape.

• FRANÇAIS is ..-. .-. .- -. -.-.. .- .. ..., eight letters and 73 units long (4.9 seconds at 18 WPM).
• GARÇON is --. .- .-. -.-.. --- -., six letters and 65 units long (4.3 seconds at 18 WPM).

To hear a whole word or sentence, type it into the Morse code translator. The standard letters are all on the alphabet chart, and the other national letters are with the rest of the accented letters.