笛
flute, clarinet, pipe, whistle, bagpipe, piccolo
Readings
On'yomi
- テキ
Kun'yomi
- ふえ
Nanori
- う
Meaning
笛 centers on wind instruments that produce sound through a hollow tube: flutes, pipes, and whistles. The specific instrument names (clarinet, bagpipe, piccolo) are natural extensions of this core idea of a blown musical pipe.
Most common words using 笛
20 of 60- 笛ふえN3
flute; fife; pipe; recorder; flageolet; shakuhachi; clarinet
- 口笛くちぶえN1
whistle (sound made with the lips)
- 笛吹きふえふき
flute player; flutist; flautist; piper
- 汽笛きてきN1
steam whistle
- 警笛けいてき
horn; alarm; whistle; foghorn
- 角笛つのぶえ
horn (instrument; made of animal horn); bugle; hunting horn
- 篠笛しのぶえ
Japanese transverse bamboo flute (high-pitched; usu. with seven holes)
- 横笛よこぶえ
transverse flute (e.g. a fife)
- 草笛くさぶえ
reed pipe
- 鼓笛隊こてきたい
drum and fife band
- ハーメルンの笛吹き男ハーメルンのふえふきおとこ
the Pied Piper of Hamelin
- 口笛を吹くくちぶえをふく
to whistle
- 号笛ごうてき
siren; whistle
- 喉笛のどぶえ
windpipe
- 四條笛鯛よすじふえだい
bluestripe snapper (Lutjanus kasmira); bluestripe seaperch
- 太笛ふとぶえ
kagura flute (six-holed horizontal flute)
- 指笛ゆびぶえ
whistling through one's fingers; whistle made by sticking one's fingers in one's mouth and blowing
- 横条笛鯛よこすじふえだい
spotstripe snapper (species of fish, Lutjanus ophuysenii)
- 浜笛吹はまふえふき
spangled emperor (species of emperor bream, Lethrinus nebulosus)
- 浦内笛鯛うらうちふえだい
Papuan black snapper (Lutjanus goldiei)
Study
Etymology
笛 combines 竹 (bamboo) with 由, which likely contributes a phonetic element. The character originally referred to a bamboo flute, and the bamboo component reflects the traditional material.
Meaning mnemonic
The top part 竹 is bamboo, and the bottom 由 looks like a field with a path through it. Imagine a bamboo flute carved so that air flows through it like a path through a field, producing a clear note.
Reading mnemonic
For テキ, imagine a technician (テキ) tuning a bamboo flute: tech -> テキ, and the technician's precise adjustments make the flute sound perfect.