against
 
against
air
 
air  wind  breeze  gas  vapor
all
 
all  every
and
 
and  also
animal
 
animal
ass
 
ass  rear  butt
back
 
back  behind
bad
 
bad  no
beautiful
 
beautiful
believe
 
believe  think
between
 
medium  intermediate  vacillating  confused
big
 
big  large  highly
blue
 
blue  sad  sour  bitter
body
 
body  hull
box
 
box  container  cup
boy
 
boy  man  male
break
 
crack  canyon  destroy  disrupt
bump
 
hill  bump  protuberance  mountain
can
 
can  possibility  ability
cause
 
cause  force  make  compel
child
 
child  baby  descendant
circle
 
ball  round  cycle  loop  surround  around
close
 
close  finish
cloth
 
cloth  clothing  fabric  covering
come
 
come  hello  arrive
cool
 
cold  cool  agreeable
count
 
count  number
crazy
 
crazy  foolish  wild
dark
 
dark  black
different
 
different  difference  distance  interval
dirty
 
dirty  dirt  scum
ear
 
ear  hear  know of/about (indirective)
eat
 
eat  food  consume
eye
 
eye  see  look
face
 
face  front  facade
feel
 
feel  touch
fire
 
fire  hot  angry
foot
 
foot  base
forward
 
forward  on behalf of
friend
 
friend
fruit
 
fruit  reward  goal
furniture
 
furniture
get
 
get  take  receive  catch  find
girl
 
girl  woman  female
go
 
go  move  goodbye  become
good
 
good  yes
ground
 
ground  floor  land
group
 
group  team  collection  set
hard
 
hard  stone  compact object  difficult
have
 
have  own
head
 
head  top  most (superlative)
heart
 
heart  center
hit
 
hit  strike  punch  tap  bump against
house
 
house  home  building  system
inside
 
inside  interior
it
 
she  he  it
kind
 
kind  type  sort  category
know
 
know
leaf
 
leaf  sheet  paper  flake  petal
left
 
left  beside  with (comitative)
life
 
life  energy  power  fuel  vigor
light
 
light  bright  white
limb
 
limb  stick  phallus
link
 
link  connect relate  fuck
small
 
small  little  less  slightly
 
like  love
make
 
make  create  accomplish
maybe
 
maybe  might  perhaps
me
 
me
mistake
 
mistake  screw up
money
 
money
mouth
 
mouth  opening  hole
must
 
must  need  have to  should
name
 
name  word  term
nose
 
nose  smell  intuit
only
 
only  just  barely
open
 
open  start  begin
or
 
or
outside
 
outside
over
 
over  about
parent
 
parent
path
 
path  line  road
person
 
person
picture
 
picture  screen
place
 
place  at
plant
 
plant  vegetable
play
 
play  do
pocket
 
pocket  corner  depression  valley  fold
put
 
put  give  send  throw  lose
reason
 
reason  because  for
red
 
red  sweet  happy
right
 
right  beside  on behalf of
same
 
same  like  also  equal  mean imply
skin
 
skin  surface  covering  peel  shell  coating
sleep
 
sleep  rest  oblivion  absent-mindedness
some
 
some  part  portion
sound
 
sound  ruckus  tumult
space
 
space  room
stay
 
stay  continue
story
 
chain  thread  sequence  explanation  excuse
stuff
 
soft  goo  sand  easy
talk
 
say  discuss  address
that
 
away  there  that  the other
thing
 
thing  exist
this
 
here  this  the
time
 
time
tip
 
tip  finger  point  unit
true
 
true  correct  honest
try
 
try
under
 
under  below  with respect to  supporting
use
 
use  with (instrumental)
vehicle
 
vehicle  car  craft
want
 
want  desire
water
 
water  liquid
way
 
way  method  means
what
 
what
work
 
work  do
write
 
write
yellow
 
yellow  scared  salty
you
 
you

dictionary

This is the word for yes (click to listen):

good
 

Each Moss word is accompanied by an English token to help you recognize it as you're learning. As you can see, the word for 'yes' is the same as the word for 'good'. Since Moss has such a small vocabulary, each Moss word translates several basic English words.

There are three kinds of tones in Moss. The central line is the nucleus tone. It can be any pitch. All of the other tones in a word are measured off of the nucleus tone. The outside lines are satellite tones. They’re separated from the nucleus tone by a jump up or down – any amount larger than a step is a satellite tone.

maybe
 

Notes just above or below any of the lines are neighbor tones. They’re separated from either the nucleus tone or a satellite tone by a step – either whole steps or half steps.

and
 
or
 

Some words use a string of neighbor tones - two or more steps extending from the nucleus tone. Ledger lines are used when words have two or more steps in a row.

thing
 
person
 
life
 
time
 

Rhythm is also relative, just like pitch: filled in notes are short, and hollow notes are long, but the proportions are flexible, and you can pace yourself as fast or as slow as you want.

friend
 
same
 

The only other distinguishing features in words are breaks in sound between the notes, denoted by staccato marks.

good
 
bad
 

The relationship between words in the sentence is shown by whether the nucleus tone moves up, down or stays on the same level. The main words in a sentence step down in pitch.

me
want
eat
 
"I'm hungry."

Whenever a word stays at the same level, you know that it's modifying the previous word.

me
want
water
cool
 
"I want cold water."

English speakers who are used to adjectives and adverbs coming before the words they modify can get comfortable with this word order by thinking of a string of words on the same pitch level as a relative clause.

me
want
water
cool
 
"I want water which is cold."
person
get
eat
feel
bad
 
"The food-taking person feels bad." "The person who took the food feels bad."

The first word in an subordinate or adjunct phrase jumps up in pitch.

me
want
you
go
 
"I want you to leave."
me
eat
time
you
eat
 
"I'll eat when you eat."

Moss also has just two suffixes that go up, down, or stay put from to the last note of the word they're attached to (not necessarily the nucleus tone).

Yes/No questions are formed by adding a suffix (technically a clitic) at the end of the whole sentence.

you
cool
?
 
"Are you cold?"

'Not' is also a suffix. It's a single short note that repeats the last pitch of the word it's negating.

me
cool
not
 
"I'm not cold"
me
fire
not
 
"I'm not hot"

Moss is a rudimentary, non-standardized language. If you're not sure how to say something, and you haven't seen a similar example yet, you should just try something that you think will be clear, without worrying about whether it's right or wrong.