Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
H35 — Decaying teeth.
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
OverviewHuman teeth are made of fragile material. Usually, the motif explains the aetiology of toothache.
Berezkin category: Paradise Lost
This is of motif type Cosmology and etiology and is part of group 4, Origin of death, diseases and hard life.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| E26 | 99.29% | People, or only women, go underwater and turn into fish. Men catch them with fishing gear. Those who are caught become human (women) again. (Narratives about the transformation of only one caught fish into the hero's wife are not included; see motif F7). |
| F29 | 99.10% | A girl (woman) sits on the ground and copulates with a snake, worm or eel that crawls out of the ground towards her. This usually happens when she is busy with housework (cooking, weaving, etc.). |
| B22A | 99.06% | Boys climb a tree to eat fruit and refuse to throw the fruit down to the tapir, who tries to kill the boys. |
| E9K | 99.06% | The husband or wife is the embodiment of honey or a human bee. |
| F84 | 99.06% | A guest or younger brother has sexual intercourse with the wife of the host or older brother. Wanting to demonstrate long abstinence, the character sprinkles ash on the head of his penis or smears it with fruit juice. |
| L5D | 99.05% | The rolling head suffers from thirst. See motif L5. |
| M29W | 98.98% | As a result of their stupidity or antisocial behavior, a jaguar (puma, ocelot) dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. The character is named if it is a puma or ocelot; otherwise, a jaguar. |
| J15B | 98.94% | While travelling, a woman finds herself in the house of a frog or toad. See motif J15. |
| F32 | 98.91% | Small children or a single infant, who temporarily transform into adult men and/or emerge from their mother's womb, or a snake living in a woman's womb, climb a tree and help her gather fruit, bark, tree mushrooms, etc.; or a father discovers his daughter's connection with a snake when he climbs a tree to gather fruit for her. |
| I83 | 98.86% | Birds (especially vultures and eagles) lived or live in the sky, usually on one of several tiers of the upper world. |
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
23 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 23 traditions: Sora (Savara, Saora), Parenga, Maria, Muria, and other South-Central Dravidians: Binjhwar, Bacop, Bhattra, Bom, Jhoria (=Jhodia), Gadaba (in Koraput, neighbors of Munda-speaking Gadaba), Duruwa (Parji), Mehtar; Pardhan, Yana, Navajo, Yuma proper (Quechan), Mohave, Maricopa, Quiche, Achí, Cakchiquel, Pocomchi, Pocomam, Lacandon, Guaymi, Bocota, Dorasque; XVI century data on Western Panama, Wayapi, Emerillon, Cañari, Napo (Quijo), Kanelo (“Jungle Kechua”), Kofan, Yagua, Ticuna (Tucuna), Maue (Mawe), Kechua-speaking communities of Apurimac, Cuzco, Arequipa, Puno departments; Spanish sources of XVI-XVII centuries; Callawaya (Kechua with Pukina substratum), Machiguenga, Cashibo, Bolivian Guarani: Chiriguano (including assimilated Chane Arawaks), Pauserna (=Guarasu), Guarayu, Tapiete, Mehinaku, Waura, Yaulapiti, Kuikuro, Kalapalo, Calapalo, Kamayura, Iranxe
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