Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
B55 — Leaf fish.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewFish grow on tree branches or tree leaves turn into fish.
Berezkin category: The Origins of the Characteristics of the environment
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 7, Etiology of plants and animals and of their peculiar features, particular animals as protagonists of cosmological stories, metamorphoses, weather and calendar.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| I125 | 97.13% | Hyades (sometimes, possibly, Pleiades or Orion) – jaw or severed head of a large animal or anthropomorphic creature. |
| G17 | 96.94% | Cultural or important food crops, partially cultivated plant species owe their origin to snakes, moray eels or crocodiles/caimans. |
| B9 | 96.62% | A huge amount of water is contained in the trunk of a tree, or the tree turns into water. |
| F26 | 95.64% | The transfer of sacred musical instruments (horns, trumpets) from women to men is associated with the onset of menstruation in women. |
| G5 | 95.06% | The fruits and shoots of various cultivated plants or the fruits of various wild plants grow on the branches of a single tree or on a single vine; the cultivated plant has a tree-like form that is not characteristic of it in nature. |
| E9F | 94.35% | Before meeting the hero, his beloved (wife, helper) has the image of a parrot. |
| G23A | 93.12% | Parts of the body and organs of living beings are transformed into various plants (teeth into corn, testicles into yams, etc.). |
| I43B | 93.12% | The Milky Way is a reptile, fish or chain of fish. |
| C4 | 92.76% | During the flood or at the beginning of time, fruits, seeds, or other objects fall into the water one after another. As this happens, the water begins to recede, exposing the earth. |
| I43A | 92.56% | A giant reptile, serpent, fish, or chain of fish stretches across the earth and/or supports the sky. Usually associated with the Milky Way, sometimes with a rainbow. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Traditions
15 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 15 traditions: Trans-New Guinea and unclassified Papuan groups of Irian Jaya: Mejprat, Arandai-Bintuni, Inanwatan-Berau, Papua of Gelvink (Cenderawasih) Bay, Kamoró, Marind Anim, Sawi, Mafore; Korowai; Kwerba; Momina, Eipo, Yale, Awyu, Palau (Western Carolines), Kayan, Bahau, Kenja, Aoheng, Punan (Bukat, Basap, Oloh Ot, etc); "Klemantan", Cuna; XVI century data on Eastern Panama, Siona, Secoya, Coreguaje, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Letuama, Tanimuca, Ufaina, Yahuna, Baniwa (incl. Wakuenai), Bare, Piapoco, Curripaco, Siusi, Guarikena , Yagua, Piro (Yine), Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Paresi, Apinaye (Apinage, Apinaje), Papua-New Guinea Northern Lowland Papuan groups (Trans New Guinea and unclassified): Komba, Gimi, Susure, Orokaiva, Bogadjim, Ngain, Sentani, Bargam, Imonda, Nankina, Yupta Valley, Urawa Valley, Warupu (Barupu), Pondoma (Anam), Palau
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