Morse code for non-Latin alphabets

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This is a summary of the use of Morse code to represent alphabets other than Latin.

Contents

Greek

The Greek Morse code alphabet is very "similar" to the Latin alphabet. The "similarity" is based first on optical resemblance of each letter, a.k.a. glyph, and then secondly on sound. Example: A both in Greek and English is the same glyph and sound (like a in word apple). The Greek B though, is identical to the English B as far as the glyph is concerned, even though the sound of Greek B is the same as the sound of English V (like the v in word victory). The B prevails to V. The Greek Morse code alphabet uses one extra letter for Greek letter Χ and no longer uses the codes for Latin letters "J", "U" and "V".

Greek
Code
ITUGreek
Code
ITUGreek
Code
ITU
Α
   
AΙ
   
IΡ
    
R
Β
     
BΚ
    
KΣ
    
S
Γ
    
GΛ
     
LΤ
  
T
Δ
    
DΜ
   
MΥ
     
Y
Ε
  
EΝ
   
NΦ
     
F
Ζ
     
ZΞ
     
XΧ
     
CH
Η
     
HΟ
    
OΨ
     
Q
Θ
     
CΠ
     
PΩ
    
W
Diphthongs (obsolete)
HY
     
VYI
     
JOY
    
U
OI
      
8EI
    
SAI
     
Ä
AY
     
ÜEY
     
Ö

The tonos is not transmitted in Morse code; the receiver can simply infer which vowels require one. The Greek diphthongs presented in the bottom three rows of the table are specified in old Greek Morse-code tables but they are never used in actual communication, the two vowels being sent separately.

Cyrillic

Cyrillic letters are represented using the representation of similar-sounding Latin letters (e.g. Л ⇒ L). Cyrillic letters with no such Latin correspondence are assigned to Latin letters with no Cyrillic correspondence (e.g. Щ⇒Q). The same correspondence was later used to create Russian national character sets KOI-7 and KOI-8.

CyrillicCodeITUCyrillicCodeITUCyrillicCodeITUCyrillicCodeITU
А   AИ(Ukr. І)   IР    RШ     (CH)
Б     BЙ     JС    SЩ     Q
В    WК    KТ  TЬ(Bul. Ъ)     X
Г    GЛ     LУ    UЫ(Bul. Ь)     Y
Д    DМ   MФ     FЭ(Ukr. Є)      É
Е  EН   NХ     HЮ     (Ü)
Ж     VО    OЦ     CЯ     (Ä)
З     ZП     PЧ     (Ö)Ї      

The order and encoding shown uses the Russian national standard. The Bulgarian standard is the same except for the two letters (Ь, Ъ) given in parentheses: The Bulgarian language does not use Ы, while Ъ is frequent, but missing in Russian standard Morse.

The letter Ё (Yo) does not have an international Morse phonetic equivalent, with international Е used instead. Ukrainian Morse uses Є instead of Э, І instead of И, but also has И encoded as Ы, and has additional Ї (Yi).

Hebrew

Hebrew letters are mostly represented using the Morse representation of a similar-sounding Latin letter (e.g. "Bet" ב≡B); however the representation for several letters are from a Latin letter with a similar shape (e.g. "Tet" ט ≡U, while "Tav" ת≡T). Though Hebrew Morse code is transcribed from right to left, the table below is transcribed from left to right as per the Latin letters in the table.

LetterCodeITULetterCodeITU
א    A ל      L
ב      B מ    M
ג     G נ    N
ד     D ס      C
ה     O ע      J
ו   E פ      P
ז      Z צ     W
ח      H ק      Q
ט     U ר     R
י    I ש     S
כ     K ת   T

Arabic

LetterCodeITULetterCodeITULetterCodeITULetterCodeITU
ا    A ذ      Z ط     U ل      L
ب      B ر     R ظ      Y م    M
ت   T ز      Ö ع      Ä ن    N
ث      C س     S غ     G ه       É
ج      J ش      CH ف      F و     W
ح      H ص      X ق      Q ي    I
خ     O ض      V ك     K  E
د     D   

Kurdish

LetterIn LatinCodeLetterIn LatinCodeLetterIn LatinCodeLetterIn LatinCodeLetterIn LatinCode
اA   گG    ڵŁ      ڕŘ      وW    
بB     ھH     مM   سS    خX     
جC     ح      نN   شŞ      غ      
چÇ      -I   نٚŇ      تT  یY     
ڎĐ      یΠ     ۆO    وU    زZ     
ەE  ژJ     پP     ووÛ      ع'      
ێÊ      کK    قQ     ۊÜ     دD    
فF     لL     رR    ڤV     

See [1]

Persian

LetterCodeITULetterCodeITULetterCodeITULetterCodeITU
ا    A خ      X ص      Ä ک     K
ب      B د     D ض       É گ      Q
پ      P ذ      V ط     U ل      L
ت   T ر     R ظ      Y م    M
ث      C ز      Z ع     O ن    N
ج      J ژ     G غ      Ü و     W
چ      Ö س     S ف      F ه   E
ح      H ش      CH ق        GH ی    I

See also fa:کد مورس

Devanagari

Devanagari is a left-to-right abugida (alphasyllabary) widely used in the Indian subcontinent. The following telegraph code table is adapted from one given by Ashok Kelkar, [2] where the Latin letters are encoded as per the International Morse code standard. Some variations on this code exist, [3] and there have been some attempts to introduce other telegraph codes either to improve efficiency or to apply to more Indian languages. [2] [4] [5] Proposals for a telegraph code suitable for multiple Indian languages have been made as early as 1948, shortly after independence. [6]

DevanagariLatin MorseDevanagariLatin MorseDevanagariLatin MorseDevanagariLatin Morse
ATAEAIA
िDTDEDID
UTUEUIU
FTFEFIF
OTOEOIO
Kक्TKEKख्IK
Gग्TGEGघ्IG
Cच्TCECछ्IC
Jज्TJEJझ्IJ
Äट्ठ्
Üड्ढ्
Wत्TWEWथ्IW
Zद्TZEZध्IZ
Nन्TNENIN
Pप्TPEPफ्IP
Bब्TBEBभ्IB
Mम्TMEMण्IM
Yय्TYEYळ्IY
Rर्TRERक्रIR
Lल्TLELञ्IL
Vव्TVEVङ्IV
Sस्TSESश्IS
Hह्THEHष्IH
Ö
क्षQक्ष्TQत्रEQत्र्IQ
ज्ञXज्ञ्TXश्रEXश्र्IX
मेंMMहैTMMमैंEMMहूँIMM

Chinese

See Chinese telegraph code.

Korean

Equivalent to SKATS, Standard Korean Alphabet Transliteration System [7]

LetterCodeITULetterCodeITU
     L  E
     F   I
     B  T
     V    S
   M   A
    W   N
    G     H
    K    R
     P    D
     C    U
     X
     Z
    O
     J

Japanese

See Wabun code.

Thai

See รหัสมอร์ส on the Thai Wikipedia

References

  1. "Tirşik.net - ferhenga înteraktîf a kurdî - kürtçe sözlük".
  2. 1 2 Kelkar, Ashok R. (October 1967) [1969]. "Telegraph code for Marathi". In Poddar, Arabinda (ed.). Language and society in India. Proceedings of a seminar. Language and society in India. Simla, IN: Indian Institute of Advanced Study. pp. 520–524. OCLC   504343143.
  3. @avtansa (2018-06-07). "Morse code for sending messages in Devanagari (Telegraphy) देवनागरी तार संकेत निर्देशिका #Hindi #Marathi #Sanskrit #Kashmiri #Bodo #Sindhi #Santhali #Dogri" (Tweet). Retrieved 2019-02-25 via Twitter.
  4. Ramakrishna, B.S.; Nair, K.K.; Chiplunkar, V.N.; Atal, B.S.; Rajaraman, V. (1957). "Statistical studies in some Indian languages with applications to communication engineering". IETE Journal of Research. 4: 25–35. doi:10.1080/03772063.1957.11486049.
  5. Narahari Pandit, S.N. (1961). "An alternative code for Indian languages". IETE Journal of Research. 7 (3): 145–148. doi:10.1080/03772063.1961.11486283.
  6. Joshi, R.D. (1948). "A new telegraphic code for the Indian languages". Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research. 7 (7): 301–307.
  7. SKATS, Wikidata   Q7390587