笛

dí
noun #10,414

Measure Word

一支笛 zhī

Meanings

  1. 1 flute

Characters

Examples

HSK 4
Tā chuī dí chuī de hěn hǎo.
He plays the flute very well.
HSK 5
Yuǎnchù chuánlái le dí shēng.
The sound of a flute came from the distance.

Tips

usage
笛 on its own usually refers to the Chinese bamboo flute (竹笛). For a Western flute, say 长笛. The whistle/referee whistle is 哨笛 or just 哨子.

Components

radical
⺮ zhú
bamboo (top radical of 竹)
Top bamboo radical, the compressed cap form of 竹 - two short bamboo-leaf clusters side by side. Indexes 笛 in the bamboo-craft family alongside 笔 brush, 笑 laugh, 篮 basket. A flute is a hollow bamboo tube with finger-holes drilled along it - the radical names the material.
phonetic
由 yóu
from; cause
Bottom 由 supplies the sound: yóu shifted to dí via an older reading preserved in this character. The 由 graph shows a sprout emerging from a field, but the imagery doesn't carry over - borrowed purely as a sound marker. Same family appears in 油 oil and 抽 to pull out.

Stroke Order

笛 dí