Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
L108B2 — Ants make the voice thin.
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
OverviewTo acquire a thin voice, the character allows ants to bite his tongue.
Berezkin category: Adventures: Monsters and evil spirits
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 11, Tricks and competitions won thanks to deception, absurd and obscene behavior.
L10 has 1 other sub-motifs
RelatedL10. The character has a sharp (biting) tail or a protrusion on its back. See motif L9, cf. motif L9C.
L10a. A demonic character approaches a man's campfire. The man leaves a log in his place and hides. The character throws himself on the log, mistaking it for a sleeping man; usually, the hunter kills or wounds the demon.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| H36D | 99.91% | The hare distorts God's command and/or is responsible for the fact that humans are mortal. See motif H36. |
| K108A | 99.00% | A man acquires a magical wife. Another woman orders him to kill her or divorce her, then she will become his wife. Having fulfilled the request, he loses everything. |
| L127 | 99.00% | Having entered another world, the character sees dancing body parts and other strange creatures. He must not be surprised, laugh, or mention God. |
| M172 | 98.21% | To show that a strong character is his slave, a riding animal, the weak one adjusts so that the strong one takes him along. Those around them are convinced of the truthfulness of the weak one. |
| M29X | 97.78% | As a result of its stupidity or antisocial behavior, the hyena dies or suffers damage. See the motives in square brackets. |
| K140 | 97.42% | Travelling with his sister or brother, the young man regularly kills his saviours and helpers, exposing himself to ever new dangers. |
| F70D | 97.19% | A girl pretends to be a man or a eunuch, or a girl hides a disability, or a man pretends to be a girl. Someone reveals a secret. At the last moment, the hero or heroine magically gets rid of the disability (acquires male or female nature), the informer is disgraced (executed). |
| M132 | 96.90% | The enemy is ready to seize the character. The character asks the enemy to first take and throw away his clothes or shoes, and then offers his ears. The enemy grabs him by the ears and throws him away, and the character runs away. |
| M192A | 96.90% | The character agrees to have a freshly removed skin put on him or to be wrapped in wet belts. The skin or belts cause suffering or death (usually because they dry out and shrink). |
| L106A | 96.21% | The antagonist makes formally justified but essentially unfair demands on the hero. The hero either fulfils them or is punished by the antagonist. Then the antagonist takes an object or animal belonging to the hero, but cannot return it and is punished equally or more severely. |
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
5 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 5 traditions: Kabylia and other Berber of Northern and Central Algeria: Beni Snous, Beni Menacer (incl Zuav), Shaui, etc.), Arabs of Sudan, Sudanese, Ngbakka, Mbum (incl Mbai), Mundang, Fali, Tupuri, Maya (=Bali), Nyong, Kamba, Tharaka, Safwa, Mkulwe, Ngonde, Kinga, Nyakusa, Nyamwanga
If you wish to get access to data for projects and research, then please contact us, we do our best to help
How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
Where applicable, users should also cite the relevant original sources, catalogues, and classification systems, including Berezkin, ATU, Thompson, and other cited authorities, alongside the page accessed and the last time accessed.
Editorial annotations and database enhancements Š Jonathan Fielder-White licensed under CC BY 4.0. Berezkin-derived narrative and metadata licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Full rights information can be found here.
All rights are reserved in the database structure, selection, arrangement, metadata, classifications, software, interface design, and original editorial content.
Important: The Folklore Database expressly reserves all rights in relation to text and data mining, automated extraction, scraping, machine learning, dataset creation, and the training, development, validation, or improvement of artificial intelligence technologies or systems. No part of this website or database may be scraped, copied, reproduced, harvested, downloaded in bulk, or otherwise used for AI training or commercial data extraction without prior written permission.
Designed and Developed by Jon Fielder-White.
Š 2024â2026 Crecganford / Jonathan Fielder-White. All rights reserved.