motifemen.
/məʊˈtiːfiːm/, /ˈməʊtɪfiːm/, U.S. /moʊˈtiˌfim/, /ˈmoʊdəˌfim/ In the study of folk tales: a story element, as a character, event, incident, circumstance, etc., usually one common to tales from many different sources.
ΚΠ
1954 K. L. Pike Lang. in Rel. Human Behavior i. vi. 75/1 As a first approximation toward a useful definition of the emic motif we may state:..An emic motif (or motifeme) is the minimum unit of the feature mode of the behavioreme.
1963 Current Anthropol. 4 277/1 In an extended tale consisting of three separate motifeme sequences..it is true that the order of these three may be altered... Nevertheless, the sequence of motifemes within motifemic sequences..remain [sic] the same.
1980 A.-L. Siikala in L. Honko & V. Voight Genre, Status, & Reprod. in Oral Lit. 73 These elements..could be called motifemes. The manifestations of the motifeme, the motifs, are determined from the traditional background of the shamanism in question.
1999 Res. Afr. Lit. 30 117 The constant factors or functions.., or motifeme.., are that the woman was beautiful, had a will of her own, got married without much regard for convention, but did not live happily ever after.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1954