Limma
Appearance
The word limma or leimma (remnant) can refer to several different musical intervals, whose only common property is their small size:
- The original Pythagorean limma, 256/243, a Pythagorean interval ( ).
- The 5-limit limma (now a diesis), 128/125, the amount by which three just major thirds fall short of an octave ( ).
- The major limma, 135/128, which is the difference between two major whole tones and a minor third ( ).
- The 5-limit diatonic semitone, 16/15 ( ). Although closer in size to the Pythagorean apotome than to the limma, it has been so called because of its function as a diatonic semitone rather than a chromatic one.