Morse Code as a Language ?

 

At its very basic, morse is a way of representing alphabets containing letters, numbers and some punctuation by dots & dashes which can be read or understood by visual or audio methods.  Its a way of representing letters by sound.  Learning to write the alphabet is not learning a new language - it simply represents the letters in a language you already know.

People will some times claim that a message sent in morse such as:-

"GM OM, TKS FOR RPRT FB UR RST 559  OP IS FRED FRED ES QTH IS LONDON HW CPY?"   is universally understood and thus is a distinct language of its own.  However all these abbreviated words are based on English words which have been  abbreviated.  The order in which they have been sent is also based on the English language.   Yes, most hams around the world will understand what is being sent in the above language for the simple reason they have learned what words they represent and the what they mean.

The grammar used to convey meaning is in the depends on the language being used - not the method of communicating it. Send morse in Arabic and you are using Arabic words & grammar. Send morse in English and you're using words & English Grammar. Likewise  a Swedish & English operator communicating in morse would need to use one common language otherwise they cannot communicate anything beyond basic information.

The structure of all morse QSOs is largely based on the language of one of the operators. If you don’t know that language you won’t be able to understand it. 

If morse was a universal language you would be able to understand what two operators were saying when they were discussing something in their own language.  An English operator for example might be able to write down a discussion between two German operators but unless they understood German they'd likely have no understanding of what was said.  If you listen to non English operators communicating between themselves you mostly will hear them using their own common language, such as French, German etc., and unless you know those languages you simply won't understand what is being communicated.

 Learning morse can be difficult for many reasons but learning morse is simply learning to represent the 26 letters (in English), numerals, & punctuation by combinations of short and/or longer sounds, commonly known as dots and dashes. In this it is no different than learning the written alphabet we use in many languages to represent the sounds which make up any particular word or thought.

Fred Neegan Cree Indian

I'd met Fred briefly in Mattice several years before.  We'd just finished a trip down the Missainabi and Fred approached me and asked me if there was enough water.  Although I'm not normally intimidated, I was this time.  What on earth do you say to someone whose and extremely good canoeist and has paddled this river hundreds of times?

This gentleman of the river knows far more about surviving in the wild and/or bushcraft than most folk. Fred is Ojibway/cree indian from Mattice on the Missinaibi River in Ontario. He's spent most of his life in the woods and on the river, paddling & hunting, guiding parties of both hunters and canoeists. He knows this river and some other local rivers better than any other living human. The great boreal forests hold no fear for Fred, for it is his home. He has two hunting cabins he built along the river. He knows the use of everything in the forest. Every noise he can identify. And if he needs to, he knows how to catch and/or kill it too. Fred is a real hunter and man of the forests. 

 He's probably the best canoeist you'll ever meet as well. Ok, he can't or won't have much to say about fancy J strokes, or whether the stroke you've just shown him is a knifed this or reversed that. He probably doesn't really care either. I asked a guide whose paddled with him what his canoeing was like. "He doesn't look like he's paddling" I was told, as his paddling skills are completely effortless. At one time or another Fred has canoed down most of the rapids on the Missinaibi and poled back up them too. I don't know whether Fred cares about grades either. If its a rapid and its canoeable then Fred can run it or pole it. When asked how well he knows the river, he says he knows every stone and rock in it, you know he's not exaggerating! He's a minimalist too. 

What you see is what you get. Fred's wearing his canoeing gear. And his hunting gear. It was also his shopping gear on this day. Most of his equipment is bought from the local hardware shop in Mattice. No fancy knives or axes for Fred. He has no web site, doesn't advertise either. But he's well know in the northern boreal forests. He's probably the only living first nation person to have a memorial erected whilst still alive.  The landing place for canoeists in Mattice is called 'Fred's Landing'.

 He can carry the heaviest load on portages too. He's 83!! and not about to give up. Whilst we were talking the mention of another guided trip came up which involved long portages over difficult trails. Fred was keen to go, saying; "I want to know if I can still do it". So if you want to learn how to survive in the forest, learn real bushcraft and canoeing from a real expert, whose been there lived it and done it, contact Fred, now! before its too late.

Since writing this, I've learned that Fred died in 2008 aged 87.