Y in Morse code

Y is dash dot dash dash in International Morse code, said “dah-di-dah-dah”. It has 4 elements and lasts 13 units, which is 780 ms at 20 WPM.

Y on a timing ruler

Dots last one unit, dashes three, and the gaps inside the letter one unit each. The numbers under the ruler are the length of each part.

How to remember Y

Y is K with one more dash on the end.
Say it out loud as “dah-di-dah-dah”. Learning the rhythm, not counting dots and dashes, is what lets you recognise it at speed.
Y is character 20 of 41 in the Koch learning order, followed by ,. Practise it in the Koch trainer.

Letters that sound like Y

These are the letters most often copied by mistake for Y, and why.

Can you hear the difference?

Listen, then pick the one you heard.

Y on the air

YL, “young lady”, is operator slang for a female operator.

Y at a glance

Morse code: -.--
Sounds like: dah-di-dah-dah
Length: 13 units
At 20 WPM: 780 ms
NATO word: Yankee
Frequency in English: 2.0% (18th of 26)

American Morse is different. In the American (Railroad) Morse once used on US telegraph lines, Y was .. ..: two dots, a short space, then two dots. International Morse, the code used today, is -.--.

Sources: codes from ITU-R M.1677-1, the International Morse code standard; English letter frequencies from Robert Lewand’s analysis; American Morse from the historical US telegraph code.

Hear Y at your speed