User:Moremajorthanmajor/TAMNAMS Extension

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This is a system for describing and naming mos scales beyond the set of named TAMNAMS mosses. Both User:Frostburn (User:Frostburn/TAMNAMS Extension) and I have similar systems for how to name mos descendants. However, this page describes several more systems that apply to non-octave mosses.

The schemes proposed here are not meant to be a definitive naming scheme. Rather, it's meant to be a starting point for a naming scheme discussion. Some parts of this page also serves as a sandbox.

The scope of this TAMNAMS extension is as follows:

  1. Systematically name mosses beyond the named range by how they're related to TAMNAMS-named mosses. The most common way of doing this is by considering what mosses descend from a TAMNAMS-named mos.
    1. Secondarily, propose unique names, or provide suggestions for possible names, for certain mosses in case they're worth having distinct names. Some of these names are old names that have been around long enough to be memorable.
      1. Catalog any names that had already existed or have been proposed elsewhere on the wiki.
  2. Systematically name mosses regardless of the equave. Such names should be as general as possible. Names for mosses with no more than 10 notes are prioritized.
  3. Propose names for 3/2 (fifth) and 3/1 (tritave) equivalent mosses, or provide suggestions for possible name ideas. Names for mosses with no more than 10 notes are prioritized.

Naming mos descendants

To name mosses that have more than 10 notes, rather than giving mosses unique names, names are based on how they're related to another (named) mos and, optionally, what step ratio is needed for the parent to produce that mos.

Base names
Parent mos Child (1st descendant) Grandchild (2nd descendant) Great-grandchild (3rd descendant) kth descendant
(mos-name) (step-ratio)-chromatic (mos-name)

(step-ratio)-chro (mos-name)

(step-ratio)-(mos-prefix)enharmonic

(step-ratio)-enharmonic (mos-name)

(step-ratio)-enhar (mos-name)

(step-ratio)-(mos-prefix)enharmonic

(step-ratio)-subchromatic (mos-name)

(step-ratio)-subchro (mos-name)

(step-ratio)-(mos-prefix)subchromatic

(kth) (mos-name) descendant

(kth)-(mos-prefix)descendant

Step ratio prefixes (optional)
Parent mos Child (1st descendant) Grandchild (2nd descendant) Great-grandchild (3rd descendant) kth descendant
Mos L:s range Mos L:s range Prefix Mos L:s range Prefix Mos L:s range Prefix Prefixes not applicable
xL ys 1:1 to 1:0 (x+y)L xs 1:1 to 2:1

(general soft range)

s- (x+y)L (2x+y)s 1:1 to 3:2

(soft)

s- (x+y)L (3x+2y)s 1:1 to 4:3

(ultrasoft)

us-
(3x+2y)L (x+y)s 4:3 to 3:2

(parasoft)

ps-
(2x+y)L (x+y)s 3:2 to 2:1

(hyposoft)

os- (3x+2y)L (2x+y)s 3:2 to 5:3

(quasisoft)

qs-
(2x+y)L (3x+2y)s 5:3 to 2:1

(minisoft)

ms-
xL (x+y)s 2:1 to 1:0

(general hard range)

h- (2x+y)L xs 2:1 to 3:1

(hypohard)

oh- (2x+y)L (3x+y)s 2:1 to 5:2

(minihard)

mh-
(3x+y)L (2x+y)s 5:2 to 3:1

(quasihard)

qh-
xL (2x+y)s 3:1 to 1:0

(hard)

h- (3x+y)L xs 3:1 to 4:1

(parahard)

ph-
xL (3x+y)s 4:1 to 1:0

(ultrahard)

uh-

Mos descendant names have two main forms: a multi-part name, where the base name (chromatic, enharmonic, subchromatic, and descendant) and mos name are separate words, and a one-part name, formed by prefixing the mos's prefix to the base names. The latter is recommended for mosses with no more than three periods, as the only 4 and 5-period mosses named by TAMNAMS are tetrawood and pentawood respectively. If a step ratio is specified for the former, it may be written out fully instead of prefixed to the base word.

The term kth descendant can be used to refer to any mos that descends from another mos, regardless of how many generations apart the two are. To find the number of generations n separating the two mosses, use the following algorithm:

  1. Let z and w be the number of large and small steps of the parent mos to be found. Assign to z and w the values x and y respectively. Let n = 0, where n is the number of generations away from zL ws.
  2. Let m1 be equal to max(z, w) and m2 be equal to min(z, w).
  3. Assign to z the value m2 and w the value m1-m2. Increment n by 1.
  4. If the sum of z and w is no more than 10, then the parent mos is zL ws and is n generations from the mos descendant xL ys. If not, repeat the process starting at step 2.

As diatonic (5L 2s) doesn't have a prefix, the terms chromatic, enharmonic, and subchromatic by themselves (and with no other context suggesting a non-diatonic mos) refer to 1st (child), 2nd (grandchild), and 3rd (great-grandchild) diatonic descendants. For consistency, mos descendant names apply to mosses whose child mosses exceed 10 notes. Since all mosses ultimately descend from some nL ns mos, every possible descendant up to 5 periods will be related to a named mos.

Mosses whose grandchildren have more than 10 notes (1st and 2nd descendants only)
6-note mosses Chromatic mosses Enharmonic mosses
Pattern Name Patterns Names Patterns Names
1L 5s antimachinoid 1L 6s, 6L 1s onyx, arch(a)eotonic 1A 7B, 6A 7B antipine, pine; atetarquintal, tetarquintal
2L 4s malic 2L 6s, 6L 2s subaric, ekic 2A 8B, 6A 8B jaric, taric; ekchromatic
3L 3s triwood: augmented 3L 6s, 6L 3s tcherepnin, hyrulic 3A 9B, 6A 9B sergic, ivanic; hyruchromatic
4L 2s citric 4L 6s, 6L 4s lime, lemon 4A 10B, 6A 10B limechromatic, lemchromatic
5L 1s machinoid 5L 6s, 6L 5s xeimtonic, antixeimtonic 5A 11B, 6A 11B xeimchromattic, axeimchromatic
7-note mosses Chromatic mosses Enharmonic mosses
Pattern Name Patterns Names Patterns Names
1L 6s onyx 1L 7s, 7L 1s antipine, pine 1A 8B, 7A 8B antisubneutralic, subneutralic; pinechromatic
2L 5s antidiatonic 2L 7s, 7L 2s balzano, superdiatonic 2A 9B, 7A 9B joanatonic, ultradiatonic; armochromatic
3L 4s mosh 3L 7s, 7L 3s sephiroid, dicoid 3A 10B, 7A 10B magitonic, luachoid; dicochromatic
4L 3s smitonic 4L 7s, 7L 4s kleistonic, suprasmitonic 4A 11B, 7A 11B kleichromatic, suprasmichromatic
5L 2s diatonic 5L 7s, 7L 5s chromatic 5A 12B, 7A 12B enharmonic
6L 1s arch(a)eotonic 6L 7s, 7L 6s antitetarquintal, tetarquintal 6A 13B, 7A 13B atetarquinchromatic, tetarquinchromatic
8-note mosses Chromatic mosses Enharmonic mosses
Pattern Name Patterns Names Patterns Names
1L 7s antipine 1L 8s, 8L 1s antisubneutralic, subneutralic 1A 9B, 8A 9B antisinatonic, sinatonic; bluchromatic
2L 6s subaric 2L 8s, 8L 2s jaric, taric 2A 10B, 8A 10B rujaric, talaric; tarachromatic
3L 5s checkertonic 3L 8s, 8L 3s squaroid, sensoid 3A 11B, 8A 11B squarochromatic, sensochromatic
4L 4s tetrawood; diminished 4L 8s, 8L 4s chromatic diminished 4A 12B, 8A 12B enharmonic diminished
5L 3s oneirotonic 5L 8s, 8L 5s antipetroid, petroid 5A 13B, 8A 13B apetrochromatic, petrochromatic
6L 2s ekic 6L 8s, 8L 6s ekchromatic 6A 14B, 8A 14B ekenharmonic
7L 1s pine 7L 8s, 8L 7s pinechromatic 7A 15B, 8A 15B pinenharmonic
9-note mosses Chromatic mosses Enharmonic mosses
Pattern Name Patterns Names Patterns Names
1L 8s antisubneutralic 1L 9s, 9L 1s antisinatonic, sinatonic 1A 10B, 9A 10B tenorite, miratonic; sinachromatic
2L 7s balzano 2L 9s, 9L 2s joanatonic, ultradiatonic 2A 11B, 9A 11B litonic, hendecoid; ultrachromatic
3L 6s tcherepnin 3L 9s, 9L 3s sergic, ivanic 3A 12B, 9A 12B sergichromatic, ivanichromatic
4L 5s gramitonic 4L 9s, 9L 4s huxloga, orwelloid 4A 13B, 9A 13B huxlochromatic, orwellchromatic
5L 4s semiquartal 5L 9s, 9L 5s chtonchromatic 5A 14B, 9A 14B chtonenharmonic
6L 3s hyrulic 6L 9s, 9L 6s hyruchromatic 6A 15B, 9A 15B hyrenharmonic
7L 2s superdiatonic 7L 9s, 9L 7s armochromatic 7A 16B, 9A 16B armenharmonic
8L 1s subneutralic 8L 9s, 9L 8s bluchromatic 8A 17B, 9A 17B bluenharmonic
10-note mosses Chromatic mosses Enharmonic mosses
Pattern Name Patterns Names Patterns Names
1L 9s antisinatonic 1L 10s, 10L 1s tenorite, miratonic 1A 11B, 10A 11B helenite, ripploid; miracloid, antimiracloid
2L 8s jaric 2L 10s, 10L 2s rujaric, talaric 2A 12B, 10A 12B rujachromatic, talachromatic
3L 7s sephiroid 3L 10s, 10L 3s magitonic, luachoid 3A 13B, 10A 13B magichromatic, luachromatic
4L 6s lime 4L 10s, 10L 4s limechromatic 4A 14B, 10A 14B limenharmonic
5L 5s pentawood; blackwood 5L 10s, 10L 5s chromatic blackwood 5A 15B, 10A 15B enharmonic blackwood
6L 4s lemon 6L 10s, 10L 6s lemchromatic 6A 16B, 10A 16B lemenharmonic
7L 3s dicoid 7L 10s, 10L 7s dicochromatic 7A 17B, 10A 17B dicoenharmonic
8L 2s taric 8L 10s, 10L 8s tarachromatic 8A 18B, 10A 18B tarenharmonic
9L 1s sinatonic 9L 10s, 10L 9s sinachromatic 9A 19B, 10A 19B sinenharmonic

Names for mosses beyond 10 notes

This section outlines proposed names and naming suggestions for mosses beyond 10 notes.

Extended k-wood names

To name mos descendants with more than 5 periods, the names for wood mosses are extended to hexawood, heptawood, octawood, enneawood, and decawood. (This is not too different from Frostburn's proposal.) Names for descendants for these scales follow the same scheme as with other TAMNAMS-named mosses.

Names for wood scales up to 10 periods
Mos Name Prefix Abbrev.
6L 6s hexawood hexwd- hxw
7L 7s heptawood hepwd- hpw
8L 8s octawood octwd- ocw
9L 9s enneawood ennwd- enw
10L 10s decawood dekwd- dkw
11L 11s 11-wood 11-wud- 11wd
12L 12s 12-wood 12-wud 12wd
etc...

Specific names for mosses beyond 10 notes (proposed)

These names are intended for notable mosses outside the named range for which its mos descendant name would be insufficient.

11-note mosses
Mos Suggested name(s) Proposed by Reasoning
1L 10s tanzanite or tenorite User:Ganaram inukshuk More naming puns (tenzanite or tenorite)
2L 9s joanatonic Restoration of an old name that applied to its parent scale
3L 8s squaroid Restoration of an old name
4L 7s p-chromatic smitonic

soft-chromatic smitonic

soft smichromatic

TAMNAMS descendant mos naming schemes
kleistonic Restoration of an old name
angelic or ecclesial User:Eliora
5L 6s xeimtonic Restoration of an old name
6L 5s
7L 4s suprasmitonic Restoration of an old name
demonic or infernal User:Eliora Described as being "furthest removed from typical xen approaches of RTT or JI."
daemotonic User:Ganaram inukshuk Alternative for name described above.
8L 3s sentonic or sensoid Modification or restoration of an old name that applied to its parent scale
9L 2s villatonic User:Ganaram inukshuk Indirectly references avila and casablanca (Spanish for "white house", and a villa is a type of house) temperaments
ultradiatonic, superarmotonic User:CompactStar In reference to diatonic and armotonic
10L 1s miratonic or miraculoid User:Ganaram inukshuk Modification or restoration of an old name (miraculoid); reference miracle temperament
12-note mosses
Mos Suggested name(s) Proposed by Reasoning
1L 11s helenite User:Ganaram inukshuk In reference to the "ele" substring found in the word "eleven"
2L 10s rujaric User:Ganaram inukshuk Named based off of injera and shrutar temperaments
3L 9s sergic User:Ganaram inukshuk Named after one of Alexander Nikolayevich Tcherepnin's sons
4L 8s
5L 7s p-chromatic Restoration of an old name
6L 6s hexawood Extension of -wood scales; coincidentally references hexe temperament
7L 5s m-chromatic Restoration of an old name
8L 4s
9L 3s ivanic User:Ganaram inukshuk Named after one of Alexander Nikolayevich Tcherepnin's sons
10L 2s talaric User:Ganaram inukshuk Names based off of srutal/pajara temepraments
11L 1s ripploid User:Ganaram inukshuk Restoration of an old name
13-note mosses
Mos Suggested name(s) Proposed by Reasoning
1L 12s zircon User:Ganaram inukshuk Zircon is used as a birthstone for December
2L 11s litonic User:Ganaram inukshuk Portmanteau of liese, triton, and tritonic temperaments
3L 10s magitonic or mystic User:Ganaram inukshuk In reference to magic temperament
4L 9s huxloga User:Ganaram inukshuk Portmanteau of huxley, lovecraft, and gariberttet temperaments
5L 8s
6L 7s
7L 6s tetarquintal User:Ganaram inukshuk Indirect reference to tetracot temperament, which divides the perfect 5th (3/2) into four
8L 5s petroid Restoration of an old name
9L 4s orwelloid Restoration of an old name that applied to its parent scale
10L 3s luachoid Already proposed name
11L 2s maioquartal User:Ganaram inukshuk In reference to the "major fourths" scale used by Tcherepnin
hendecoid User:Eliora From Greek "eleven", references how "its generator is so close to 11/8 as to be called nothing but that".
12L 1s quasidozenal User:Ganaram inukshuk Meant to invoke the phrase "almost twelve"
14-note mosses
Mos Suggested name(s) Proposed by Reasoning
11L 3s ketradektriatoh User:Osmiorisbendi‎ Already established name
13L 1s trollic User:Godtone Refers to 12L 1s, but refers to 13L 1s as a troll move
15-note mosses
Mos Suggested name(s) Proposed by Reasoning
14L 1s sextiliquartal User:Eliora Already proposed name, references temperaments that divide 4/3 into 6 pieces
Other higher note count mosses
Note count Mos Suggested name(s) Proposed by Reasoning
17 2L 15s liesic User:Frostburn Frostburn's extension scheme stops here, so this name is suggested
21 10L 11s miracloid User:Eliora In reference to miracle temperament
22 3L 19s zheligowskic User:Frostburn In reference to Lucjan Żeligowski leading fights against the town of Giedraičiai.
19L 3s giedraitic User:Frostburn Named after the basic magic layout of Kite Giedraitis' guitar.
21L 1s escapist User:Eliora References escapade temperament, which is supported by both 21edo and 22edo, covering the entire range.
23 22L 1s quartismoid User:Eliora Five generators of roughly 33/32 quartertone are equal to 7/6 in the harmonic entropy minimum; also, the extreme ranges of 22edo and 23edo both support this mos.
25 4L 21s moulinoid User:Eliora In reference to moulin temperament

Non-octave extensions (proposed)

Since the perfect 5th and tritave (or perfect 12th) are the two most common non-octave equivalence intervals for which there are scales described, mosses for these two intervals should be the most likely to receive TAMNAMS-like names. For mosses with any other equivalence interval, describing nested mos structures, or in situations where the notion of an equivalence interval is unimportant, equave-agnostic names are proposed.

Equave-agnostic names (proposed)

This is a proposed scheme to name mosses regardless of the equivalence interval, These names are meant for nonoctave mosses and nested mos patterns such as with a mos cradle. These names are not final and are open to better suggestions.

4-note mosses (new names only)
Mos Name Multi-period? Prefix Abbrev.
2L 2s double trivial Yes (2) 2triv- 2trv
6-note mosses
Mos Name Multi-period? Prefix Abbrev.
1L 5s anhexic No ahex- ahx
2L 4s double antrial Yes (2) 2atri- 2tri
3L 3s triple trivial Yes (3) 3triv- 3trv
4L 2s double trial Yes (2) 2tri- 2tri
5L 1s hexic No hex- hx
7-note mosses
Mos Name Multi-period? Prefix Abbrev.
1L 6s ansaptic No ansap- asp
2L 5s anheptic No anhep- ahp
3L 4s anseptenic No ansep- asep
4L 3s septenic No sep- sep
5L 2s heptic No hep- hp
6L 1s saptic No sap- sp
8-note mosses
Mos Name Multi-period? Prefix Abbrev.
1L 7s anashtaic No anasht- aasht
2L 6s double antetric Yes (2) 2atetra- 2att
3L 5s anoctic No anoct- aoct
4L 4s quadruple trivial Yes (4) 4triv- 4trv
5L 3s octic No oct- oct
6L 2s double tetric Yes (2) 2tetra- 2tt
7L 1s ashtaic No asht- asht
9-note mosses
Mos Name Multi-period? Prefix Abbrev.
1L 8s annavic No annav- anv
2L 7s anennaic No anenn- aenn
3L 6s triple antrial Yes (3) 3atri- 3atri
4L 5s annovemic No annov- anv
5L 4s novemic No nov- nv
6L 3s triple trial Yes (3) 3tri- 3tri
7L 2s ennaic No enn- enn
8L 1s navic No nav- nv
10-note mosses
Mos Name Multi-period? Prefix Abbrev.
1L 9s andashic No andash- adsh
2L 8s double pedal Yes (2) 2ped- 2ped
3L 7s andeckic No andeck- adek
4L 6s double pentic Yes (2) 2pent- 2pt
5L 5s quintuple trivial Yes (5) 5triv- 5trv
6L 4s double anpentic Yes (2) 2apent- 2apt
7L 3s deckic No deck- dek
8L 2s double manual Yes (2) 2manu- 2manu
9L 1s dashic No dash- dsh

Names for these mosses are meant to be as general as possible, starting with established names that are already equave-agnostic: trivial, (an)trial, (an)tetric, (an)pentic, and pedal/manual. Mosses are named in pairs of xL ys and yL xs, where the mos with more small steps than large steps is given the an- prefix, short for anti-; this rule doesn't apply to pentic (2L 3s) and anpentic (3L 2s), where the former is the familiar pentatonic scale.

As there is only one pair of 6-note single-period mosses, 5L 1s and 1L 5s, the pair is named hexic.

With 7-note mosses, there are three pairs of mosses, whose names are based on three languages: Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit. The pair 5L 2s and 2L 5s are given the Greek-based name of heptic, as 5L 2s is the familiar diatonic scale. The next pair, 3L 4s and 4L 3s, are given the Latin-based name of septenic. The last pair, 1L 6s and 6L 1s, are given the Sanskrit-based name of saptic.

This pattern is continued for all successive sequences of mosses for each successive note count: 1L ns and nL 1s are given a Sanskrit-based name, the next single-period pair after that are given a Greek-based name, and the next single-period pair after that are given a Latin-based name. The two 8-note pairs are named ashtaic (7L 1s and 1L 7s) and octic (5L 3s and 3L 5s) respectively. The three 9-note pairs are named navic (8L 1s and 1L 8s), ennaic (7L 2s and 2L 7s), and novemic (4L 5s and 5L 4s). Finally the two 10-note pairs are named dashic (9L 1s and 1L 9s) and dekic (7L 3s and 3L 7s).

11-note mosses require naming five pairs, so this naming scheme stops at 10-note mosses.

Since the equivalence interval can be anything, names for multi-period mosses are named as a smaller mos repeated (double, triple, quadruple, etc) some number of times. The prefix and abbreviation of the base mos is preceded by the number of duplications. For example, 2L 2s is double trivial, its prefix is 2triv-, and its abbreviation is 2trv.

Non-octave twins of diatonic

2-note mos
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
1L 1s <6/5, 7/6>[1]
3-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
1L 2s <5/4, 9/7 (21/16), 13/10*>* Second magitonic or mystic antrial use compound Linear combination of undivided major third and equal multiples of whole tone, by analogy with magic temperament having a major third generator
2L 1s <5/4, 9/7 (21/16), 13/10*>* Second magitonic or mystic trial
2L 1s <4/3> ionianic[4] ion- ion “Perfect” fourth is the characteristic interval of Ionian (major) mode
4-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
1L 3s<7/5, 10/7, 11/8*, 3/2>[2]* (hard) lydianic antetric use compound Linear combination of Lydian tetrachord and undivided tritone, analogous to 3:1 step ratio of hard mosses
2L 2s <7/5, 10/7, 11/8*, 4/3>[1] locrianic locri- locri- Locrian tritone is a diminished fifth
3L 1s<7/5, 10/7, 11/8*>[3]* (hard) lydianic tetric use compound Linear combination of Lydian tetrachord and undivided tritone, analogous to 3:1 step ratio of hard mosses
3L 1s <3/2> phrygianic[4], (hard) lydianic tetric phryg- phryg “Perfect” fifth is the characteristic interval of Phrygian mode

Lydian pentachord is analogous to major scale Mason Green proposes angelic specifically for the instance of this mos within 12L 4s <5/1>

antineptunian (prefix anept-, abbrev. anep) is by analogy with 1L 3s neptunian

5-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
1L 4s <8/5, 14/9, 11/7*, 13/8*, 5/3*, 12/7*, 3/2>* indopedal use compound Linear combination of Hindu pentachord and undivided augmented fifth
3L 2s <8/5, 14/9 (32/21), 11/7*, 13/8*> aeolianic, phrygianic[5] aeol-, phryg- aeol, phryg Commonly invoked as Aeolian (natural minor) hexachord

Phrygian hexachord is analogous to major scale

4L 1s <8/5, 14/9, 11/7*, 13/8*, 3/2>* indomanual use compound Linear combination of Hindu pentachord and undivided augmented fifth
4L 1s <5/3, 12/7> dorianic[5] dor- dor Major sixth is the characteristic interval of Dorian mode
6-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
3L 3s <5/3, 12/7>[1]
1L 5s <15/8, 27/14, 9/5, 7/4, 5/3*>* Neapolitan-antimachinoid use compound Linear combination of Neapolitan hexachord and undivided augmented sixth
4L 2s <9/5, 7/4>[4] mixolydianic, dorianic[6] mixo-, dor- mixo, dor Minor seventh is the characteristic interval of Mixolydian mode

Dorian heptachord is analogous to major scale

5L 1s <9/5, 7/4, 5/3*>* Neapolitan-machinoid use compound Linear combination of Neapolitan hexachord and undivided augmented sixth
5L 1s <15/8, 27/14, 11/6*> ionianic[6], lydianic[6] ion-, lyd- ion, lyd Commonly invoked as Ionian (major) heptacbord
8-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
4L 4s<7/4, 9/5, 15/8, 27/14, 21/11*, 15/7, 11/5*>*[1][4] diminished dimi- dimi- coincidentally references scale closing at a diminished ninth
5L 3s <15/7, 21/10, 11/5*> Neapolitan-oneirotonic use compound Neapolitan 6/9 scales appear just above oneirotonic proper
6L 2s <20/9, 16/7>[4] napolitonic nap- nap- Translates minor triad to Neapolitan sixth
9-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
6L 3s <12/5, 7/3>[4] mahuric mahu- mahu Regularisation of Persian/Arabic Mahur scale
7L 2s <5/2, 18/7 (21/8), 13/5*> armodecadic ardec- ard(e) In reference to Terra Rubra temperament, makes affix via translation (Terra = Du aarde, Ar ‘ard)
10-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
7L 3s <8/3> choralic (Major) chor- chor More transparent of two given names, references how it puts triads in four parts
8L 2s <14/5, 20/7, 11/4*, 3/1*>[4] choralic (Lydian)
11-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
7L 4s <14/5, 20/7, 11/4*, 8/3*>[4] Obikhodic (Locrian)* obi- obi In reference to Russian Orthodox Obikhod chants
8L 3s <3/1> Obikhodic (Phrygian)
12-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
7L 5s <3/1, 14/5, 20/7, 11/4, 8/3, 16/5, 28/9, 13/4*>* Canonical macrochromatic scale
8L 4s <16/5, 28/9 (64/21), 22/7*, 13/4*>[4] m-chromatic bastonic bastonic is actually the macro-tetrawood temperament in a thirteenth (one of the four “Spanish” suits is wooden batons, or bastos in Spanish)
9L 3s <10/3, 24/7, 17/5*>[4] ivanimajiangic majiangic is actually the macro-tcherepnin temperament in a thirteenth (mahjong tiles have 3 1-9 suits)
13-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
8L 5s <10/3, 24/7, 17/5*>
9L 4s <18/5, 7/2> shōsūshoid shō- shō References Japanese mahjong rules
10L 3s <15/4, 27/7, 11/3*>
15-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
10L 5s <21/5, 30/7>[4]
11L 4s <9/2>
16-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
11L 5s <24/5, 14/3, 19/4*>
12L 4s <5/1, 36/7 (21/4), 26/5*>[4] quasiangelic qang- qang In reference to Mason Green’s angelic generating 12L 4s <5/1>
17-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
12L 5s <16/3> Canonical heptadecatonic macroenharmonic scale
13L 4s <28/5, 40/7, 11/2*, 6/1*> subsextal[17] sub6- sub6- In reference to its period being under the sixth harmonic
18-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
12L 6s <28/5, 40/7, 11/2*, 16/3*>[4] subsextal[18] sub6- sub6- In reference to its period being under the sixth harmonic
13L 5s <6/1> daseianic asper- asp- In reference to daseian notation
19-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
12L 7s <28/5, 40/7, 11/2*, 6/1, 16/3, 32/5, 56/9, 44/7*, 13/2*>[4] Canonical enneadecatonic macroenharmonic scale
13L 6s <32/5, 56/9 (128/21), 44/7*, 13/2*>
14L 5s <20/3, 48/7, 34/5*>
20-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
13L 7s <20/3, 48/7, 34/5*> Guidotonic (diminished) guido- guid- In reference to the Guidonian hand
14L 6s <36/5, 7/1>[4] Guidotonic (dominant)
15L 5s <15/2, 54/7, 22/3*>[4] Guidotonic (major)
22-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
15L 7s <42/5, 60/7>
16L 6s <80/9, 64/7>[4]
17L 5s <48/5, 28/3, 9/1, 10/1, 72/7 (21/2)>* Canonical macroprotofractalic macrosubchromatic scale
23-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
16L 7s <48/5, 28/3, 19/2>
17L 6s <10/1, 72/7 (21/2), 51/5*> archangelic 17L 6s <10/1> is the canonical decimal pitch scale
24-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
17L 7s <32/3> tressettine In reference to Tressette scoring counting the whole deck as 10⅔ points
18L 6s <56/5, 80/7, 11/1*, 12/1*>[4] hendecoidal[24] hendec- hendec- From Greek "eleven", references 18L 6s <11/1>.
25-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
19L 6s <56/5, 80/7, 11/1*, 32/3*> hendecoidal[25] hendec- hendec- From Greek "eleven", references 19L 6s <11/1>.
18L 7s <12/1> violic viol- vio In reference to the viol family commonly having French music for it notated in clefs a third above or below the grand staff
26-note mosses
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
18L 8s <64/5, 112/9 (256/21), 88/7*, 13/1*>[4] Petrushkatonic (minor) petrushka- petru- In reference to the “27th chord” which appears in Stravinsky’s Petrushka
19L 7s <40/3, 96/7, 68/5*> Petrushkatonic (major)

Secondary names for tritone-equivalent mosses

5-note mosses <tritone>
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
2L 3s<7/5, 10/7, 11/8*>[5] (soft) lydianic pentic use compound Linear combination of Lydian tetrachord and equal multiples of sesquitone, analogous to 3:2 step ratio of soft mosses
3L 2s<7/5, 10/7, 11/8*>[6] (soft) lydianic anpentic

Names for 3/2-equivalent mosses

Names are based on information that is available on their respective pages. Otherwise, possible ideas are given. Only mosses with 10 or fewer notes are prioritized for names.

4-note mosses <3/2>
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
1L 3s neptunian nept- nep Name proposed by CompactStar, analogous to uranian
5-note mosses <3/2>
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
2L 3s saturnian sat- sat Name proposed by CompactStar, analogous to uranian
3L 2s uranian ura- ura Already-existing name

Names for 3/1-equivalent mosses

Names are based on information that is is available on their respective pages. Otherwise, possible ideas are given. Only mosses with 10 or fewer notes are prioritized for names.

7-note mosses <3/1>
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
3L 4s In reference to electromagnetism, 3L 4s <3/1> could be named "magnetic"
4L 3s electric elec- ele Name proposed by CompactStar
9-note mosses <3/1>
Mos Name (if given) Prefix Abbrev. Reasoning or ideas
4L 5s lambdatonic lam- lam "Lambda" already refers to tritave-equivalent 4L 5s

Reasoning for names

The overall motivation for these names is to give names to closely related mosses and refer to individual mosses as some member of a broader family, rather than name individual mosses. Various terms have been used to similarly describe child mosses, but not under a temperament-agnostic viewpoint.

Source of terms Grandparent (2nd predecessor) Parent (1st predecessor) Mos Child (1st descendant) Grandchild (2nd descendant) Great-grandchild (3rd descendant) kth descendant
From Diatonic, Chromatic, Enharmonic, Subchromatic n/a n/a diatonic chromatic enharmonic subchromatic n/a
From Chromatic pairs sub-haplotonic

(not called this on page)

haplotonic albitonic chromatic mega-chromatic n/a
mega-albitonic chromatic mega-chromatic
Terminology used for this page n/a n/a mos chromatic mos enharmonic mos subchromatic mos kth descendant

The format of adding a mos's prefix to the terms descendant, chromatic, enharmonic, and subchromatic is best applied to mosses that have no more than three periods. With mosses that descend directly from nL ns mosses especially (4L 4s and above), this is to keep names from being too complicated (eg, chromatic (number)-wood instead of (number)-woodchromatic).

Various people have suggested the use of p- and m- as prefixes to refer to specific chromatic mosses, as well as the use of f- and s- for enharmonic mosses. Generalizing the pattern to 3rd mos descendants shows the letters diverging from one another, notably where m- is no longer next to p- and f- and s- are no longer along the extremes. Rather than using these letters, as well as being temperament-agnostic, prefixes based on step ratios are used instead. However, temperament-based prefixes may be used specifically for diatonic descendants as alternatives to the prefixes based on step ratios.

Prefixes for diatonic descendants
Diatonic scale Chromatic mosses Enharmonic mosses Subchromatic mosses
Steps Temp-based prefix Ratio-based prefix Steps Temp-based prefix Ratio-based prefix Steps Temp-based prefix Ratio-based prefix
5L 2s 7L 5s m- (from meantone) s- 7L 12s f- (from flattone) s- 7L 19s t- (from tridecimal) us-
19L 7s f- (from flattone) ps-
12L 7s m- (from meantone) os- 19L 12s m- (from meanpop) qs-
12L 19s h- (from huygens) ms-
5L 7s p- (from pythagorean) h- 12L 5s p- (from pythagorean) oh- 12L 17s p- (from pythagorean) mh-
17L 12s g- (from gentle) qh-
5L 12s s- (from superpyth) h- 17L 5s s- (from superpyth) ph-
5L 17s u- (from ultrapyth) uh-
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Partial detemperament of diminished temperament
  2. Partial detemperament of subaric temperament
  3. Partial detemperament of hedgehog temperament
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 Major tempered variants
  5. Partial detemperament of lime temperaments
  6. Partial detemperament of lemon temperaments