Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Textiles, Plants & Food

笛: flute, clarinet

Also: pipe, whistle, bagpipe, piccolo

JLPT N111 strokesGrade 3Your ink: 白 Not met

竹 carries the meaning · 由 gives the sound

11 strokes

Two readings, and the words that use each

テキteki · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 汽笛きてきsteam whistle
  • 警笛けいてきhorn, alarm, whistle, foghorn
  • 鼓笛隊こてきたいdrum and fife band

ふえfue · kun'yomi · on its own

  • 笛ふえflute, pipe, whistle
  • 横笛よこぶえflute, fife
  • 草笛くさぶえreed pipe
  • 口笛くちぶえwhistle (with one's lips) [n.]

Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Under the bamboo canopy! This radical brings the practicality and craftsmanship of bamboo to the head of many kanji.”
More in the ⺮ bamboo story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
竹

Also built on bamboo (竹)

All 24
由

Also built on wherefore (由)

14 in all

The 由 family reads ユ (yu); 笛 is read テキ.

Also read テキ

7 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
笛 flute · 竹
vs黄 yellow · 龷 + 八
笛 has 竹 where 黄 has 龷 + 八.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · dí

Same form: 笛 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
笛 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
笛 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin dí most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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