M in Morse code

M is two dashes with a short silence between them. At 18 WPM each dash lasts 200 ms and the gap 66.7 ms, so the letter takes about 467 ms from the first tone to the end of the second.

• Say it:

  dah-dah, two even, heavy beats.

• Tap it:

  two long presses with a short pause between.

• Flash it:

  two long blinks.

• Write it:

  two hyphens side by side, then a space.

In a word, keep a gap of three units after M. MOM is -- --- -- in Morse code, 31 units or about 2.1 seconds at 18 WPM, and MUM is -- ..- -- at 27 units. The Morse code translator does the same for any name or word, such as ADAM or TOM.

Memory phrases give each dash a stressed syllable, so a letter of two dashes needs two strong beats and nothing else: MA-MA. “LIKE MIKE” works too, and Mike is also M's word in the NATO phonetic alphabet.

Douglas Harder's written mnemonics count tall letters as dashes and short ones as dots. For M he uses MM, two capitals, which is two tall shapes for two dashes.

More memory phrases

Four characters are nothing but dashes, so the count is the whole code. The same ladder exists for dots, starting from E, a single dot.

• T:

  one dash, - on its own.

• M:

  two dashes, the code on this page.

• O:

  three dashes, ---, one more than M.

• The number 0:

  five dashes, -----, a digit rather than a letter.

Other close neighbors change one mark instead of adding one: G is M plus a dot, A and N each swap one of M's dashes for a dot, and I is two dots, M with every mark flipped. The Sound-alike drill practices the T, M, O and 0 run by ear.

Other alphabets reuse the same patterns with new meanings. In Wabun code, the Japanese version, two dashes stand for the kana ヨ (yo), and Russian Morse uses them for М, the Cyrillic M. The Japanese Morse code guide has the full kana chart and explains how operators switch to it.

In International Morse, as defined by ITU-R M.1677-1, two dashes are always M. See it beside the other 25 letters on the alphabet chart.