Limma

The word limma or leimma (from Greek: λείμμα, leimma; meaning "remnant") can refer to several different musical intervals, and one form of breath-mark to indicate spacing within lyrics; their only common property is that all are very small either in pitch difference or in time.

Pitch

More specifically, in Pythagorean tuning (i.e. 3-limit):

• The original Pythagorean limma, ⁠ 256 / 243 ⁠, a Pythagorean interval (play^ⓘ).

and in 5-limit tuning:

• The 5-limit diatonic semitone, ⁠ 16 / 15 ⁠ (play^ⓘ). 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.

• The 5-limit limma (now a diesis), ⁠ 128 / 125 ⁠, the amount by which three just major thirds fall short of an octave (play^ⓘ).

• The major limma, ⁠ 135 / 128 ⁠, which is the difference between two major whole tones and a minor third (play^ⓘ).

Metre

A leimma is also the name of a musical / metrical symbol (𝉅) for the timing of sung lyrics. If written over lyrics to it directed the singer to insert the shortest possible pause between words or syllables it was placed over.^[1]

Modern equivalents are:

• a breath mark
• a comma [,]
• a sixteenth rest (𝄿 ) or perhaps a thirty-second rest (𝅀  )