| Motif | Name | Description |
| a32 | Figure on lunar disc | A figure or an imprint of some being or object are seen in the Moon. (For statistical analysis motifs A32A – A32J are also included into A32) |
| a32c1 | Predator animal in the Moon | A predator animal (fox, wolf, dog, coyote, jaguar, lion) or its imprint is seen in the Moon |
| a37 | The Sun is attacked with weapons | Person intentionally and with special equipment (usually shooting arrows) attacks the Sun (or several suns if they were many) |
| a5 | The Sun and the Moon are males | The Moon is male, the Sun is also male or (much more rare) asexual |
| b3a | Primeval waters | Water is the original element, the dry earth appears later |
| b3b | Earth grows big | Original earth was small and later increased in size or the fertile soil grew from a small amount of original substance |
| b41 | The talking dog | Because the dog was spreading some information, altercated with its masters, was talking in a wrong time, etc. it lost the ability to speak |
| b41a | Animal reveals master’s secrets | The dog or other domestic animal speaks aloud about those details of its masters' life that they would prefer to conceal. He is punished by depriving his ability to speak |
| b44a | Council on seasons: units of time | Animals (Melanesia: persons) discuss the number of discrete units of time that should be in a certain calendar period or in the night |
| b44b | Council on seasons: toes, claws, hairs, feathers | Toes, claws, feathers, hairs, color stripes, etc. are counted and compared to establish the number of period of time or particular way of alternation of periods |
| b44c | Should warmth and light exist? | It is discussed if darkness or light, cold or warm periods should exist |
| b44e | Dispute of ancestors | The primeval ancestors (usually birds and animals) participate in discussion concerning the desired predominance or wamth/light or cold/darkness, number of the units of time in a tempoi cycle, etc. |
| c19 | Acquisition of the sun | The Sun (the day light) that was absent, stolen or hidden appears (again) |
| c6 | Valuables brought from the lower world | Persons or animals dive or otherwise decend to the lower world to get a desired object and to bring it to earth (besides episodes in the fairytales, cf. motif k27x9) |
| c6c | The diver is a bird | An aquatic bird dives and brings the desired object from the bottom |
| c6c4 | The duck is successful diver | The duck (or an aquatic bird similar to the duck) dives and brings a piece of earth that is transformed into the dry land (it is the only or the only successful diver) |
| c6d | The aquisition of the earth from the lower world | The dry land (the earth) grows from a small amount of solid substance (sand, clay, dirt and the like) brought from the lower world (usually from the bottom of the ocean) |
| d11 | Food baked in armpits | Before fire became known, people prepared food using warmth of their bodies (usually putting food in their armpits); or a person keeps fire in his or her armpits |
| d4a | Theft of fire | Fire is stolen from its original owner or brought back to the people from somebody who had stolen it before |
| f17 | Misplaced genitalia | Originally, humans had (had to have; can have under some special confition) their genitals not on the place where they are now; the genitals were absent, or people did not know know their function and used for copulation other parts of the body |
| f39 | The time of women | The women dominated over the men in the past or in a far away land, were the active part in marriage relations, practiced activities which now are reserved of the men only. Or the women could obtained supremacy but failed to do it for some reason |
| f58 | Trickster and women | A man cohabits with a group of women (or with several women in succession) concealing his identity and/or intentions. He is either eventually exposed and punished by women or escapes to continue his tricks |
| f59 | Man to woman: modified body | To make believe that he is a female, a trickster transforms particular objects or creatures into female body parts or into a baby child |
| f64 | The lecherous parent | Person changes his or (rare) her guise to marry his or her close relative in descending or (rare) ascending line |
| f64a | Describes future husband | Going away or pretending to die, a person bids his or her relative to marry another person who resembles him (her) or has some special traits; or he describes a man who should be met as a dear guest; person comes himself unrecognized and is taken for one whom he had described |
| f65 | The false burial | To realize his or her secret desire (illicit sex, refusal to share food with relations), person pretends to die and is abandoned at a burial place |
| f65c | The feigned burial: boy exposes deceit | A man feigns death to marry his daughter or to eat burial food. One of the younger children recognizes the (adoptive) father or gets to see that the false dead is alive (escapes from the burial pyre, laughs, etc.) |
| f82 | Incest with mother-in-law | A man uses a trick to have opportunity to make love to his mother-in-law or woman uses a trick to make love to her son-in-law. Usually a man takes with him on a hunt not his wife but her mother |
| h24 | Container opened too early | Container with valuables or with dangerous creatures is opened (before time). Its content goes out of control or disappear |
| h32a | Superfertility lost: a maltreated wife | Supernatural woman comes to live with humans. Thanks to that, food becomes easily available. She is maltreated, goes away, temporal superfertility is lost forever |
| i100 | The Pleiades are girls | The Pleiades are a group of girls or women (with children) |
| i100a | The Pleiades are mother with children | The Pleiades are a woman with her children |
| i100b | The Pleiades are a group of people | The Pleiades are any people (of any ages and sex, combined data of i99-i100a) |
| i130 | The sky net | One of costellations is a hunting or fishing net, trap, snare |
| i22 | Objects in permanent movement | There are objects which remaining on the same place are moving permanently or periodically (meet and part. rise and fall down, shut and open, rotate) |
| i28 | Animals in the underworld | Game animals live inside a mountain, in a cave or in the underworld where they often look like humans and have a master |
| i45a | Not to point at the Moon or a star | Person who points at the Moon or a star or looks intently at them will get sick or die or his pointing finger will rot or wither |
| i45b | Not to point at the rainbow | It to point at the rainbow, pointing finger or entire arm will rot, wither or become crooked |
| i93 | Milky Way is the backbone | Milky Way is the backbone of the sky or of all the world |
| j12 | Travelling girl walks across suitors | A girl (or two sisters) travel, usually in search of a proper marriage partner who lives far away or who has gone away. On her way or after reaching the place of destination the girl gets to some unpleasant suitors |
| j19 | Wicked guest murders woman | When husband o brother leaves home to hunt, an evil spirit comes to his wife or sister. The spirit kills her or carries her away. Her baby boys extracted from her womb or born at this time survive |
| j20 | Wicked guest: woman breaks taboo | When husband o brother leaves home to hunt, an evil spirit comes to his wife or sister and kills or injures her being able to do it because she has broken taboo to open the door, to look at the guest or to answer him or her |
| j47 | Pursuer falls from height | Person ascends to the sky (rare: descends from the sky; ascends the cliff) by a rope, a ladder, etc. Another person tries to follow him or her but the rope (the ladder) is broken or severed |
| k10 | Fight with the monstrous bird | Monstrous bird (giant bat) predates on humans. Heroes fight with it |
| k10d | Bird carries man to an island | A flying monster carries a man to a far away island. There he gets to kill the monster. To return, he uses a boat, a bridge or a rope made of parts of the monster's body |
| k177 | The travelling heroine | A girl or young woman sets off to find or return her fience or her husband or she escapes from a fanger and ultimately marries happily |
| k27 (motif is not in the correlation table) | Competitions and difficult tasks | Person is suggested to fulfill tasks that are mortally dangerous or cannot be fulfilled without supernatural helpers or capacities. The person fulfills the tasks and remains alive. A contest between persons has form of a competition or game in which the loser is deprived of his status or life |
| k27o | Ball game | A contest: ball game |
| k27s | Contest: a race | Contest: a race |
| k4 | The bird nester | Person climbs up a tree or rock or descends to a cave to get eggs or nestlings from the bird's nest. Another person remains on the ground. They get into conflict and/or the first person is unable to get back to the ground |
| k71 | Coyote first betrays and then saves his brother | Coyote's brother is victorious against numerous enemies as far as Coyote does not break some taboo. Enemies kill the brother. Coyote gets his remains, escapes, revives him |
| k86 | Weeping child stolen | Because a small child is ignored or punished by its parents (usually it cries late in the evening), bush spirit or animal carries it away |
| k8c | Jonah: swallowed by terrestrial animal | Person gets into the belly of ground animal or bird. He kills it from the inside and/or returns to earth by himself (i.e. not extracted by other people) |
| l38a | A sticky trap | Person sticks to an object, usually touching it one by one with his body members. The object is a trap of demonic creature or is a non human creature itself |
| l41 | Hero escapes on the way | An ogre or ogress catches a person and carries his or her prey home but the person escapes on the way or immediately after reaching the ogre's house |
| l53 | Stones into the maw | A monstrous being is killed or neutralized by (burning hot) stones (pieces of metal, heavy fruits, etc.) thrown into its maw or anus or the being retreats when they menace to throw a stone into its maw |
| l57a | Hero's body part is returned by his companion | The antagonists acquire person’s organ or body part (his remains) . Another person gets back what has been stolen and the first one revives (becomes strong again) |
| l80 | A drop of blood | A demonic person or animal is killed but revives or can revive if a small piece of its flesh or blood goes out of control |
| m11c | Person gets lard from his body | A male person cuts or roasts his own body to extract meat, lard or blood, cooks it and serves to his guest without injuring himself. Such a food is not considered to be unclean |
| m29b | Trickster-fox, jackal or coyote | In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is fox, jackal or coyote |
| m29e | Trickster-skunk | In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is skunk |
| m29m | Trickster is a rat | In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is a rat |
| m29x1 | Trickster is a badger | In episodes related to deception, absurd, obscene or anti-social behavior the protagonist is a badger |
| m38 | Stupid imitation (all versions) | Person sees how others act using magic or according to their animal nature. He or she imitates their actions and gets into trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and refer to everyday activity, mostly to providing and cooking food |
| m38a | The bungling host | Being on a visit to other people or (more often) animals, an (animal)-person sees them act using magic or according to their animal nature. Back at home, he imitates their actions and gets in trouble. Actions are not heroic deeds, competitions or tests and mostly refer to providing and cooking food |
| m49 | Man in a skin of another | Hero comes across a (animal-)person from an enemy group and takes his or her appearance, usually dressing himself in a skin of his victim; after this he penetrates the enemy camp |
| m49a | The substituted medicine-woman | The hero has to come unrecognized to the meeting place of his enemies. He meets an old woman (usually a shaman, a medicine-woman) who goes there, puts on her skin and acquires her appearance |
| m50 | Man follows stars | A man tries to join a group of persons who are or become stars (usually the Pleiades) but suffers a reverse; or he pursues the stars to have sexual contact or to be reintegrated with members of his family |
| m53 | Hoodwinked dancers | Person invites birds or animals (usually geese and ducks) to dance or stand around him and concentrate their attention on some activity (usually to dance with their eyes shut), kills them, usually one by one. Or (rare) he dances himself with his eyes shut and then kills water fowl who gather around him |
| m63 | Body parts enumerated | Before finding a part of the body that is the best for some particular function, other parts are proven or enumerated |