motif vs obligato

motif and obligato both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
motif	Yes	No	No	No
obligato	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, obligato is a hyponym of motif; that is, obligato is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than motif:

Other hyponyms of motif include obbligato.

motif (noun)	obligato (noun)
a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration	a part of the score that must be performed without change or omission
a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in literary or artistic work	a persistent but subordinate motif
a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music