1.
flute
A musical wind instrument, especially traditional Japanese flutes.
笛を吹く。
To play the flute.
祭りで笛の音が聞こえた。
I heard the sound of flutes at the festival.
子供のころ、学校で縦笛を習った。
When I was a child, I learned the recorder at school.
縦笛 = recorder (vertical flute)
祖父は竹で笛を作るのが上手で、よく孫たちに作ってくれた。
My grandfather was good at making flutes from bamboo and often made them for his grandchildren.
静かな夜に遠くから聞こえてくる笛の音色は、どこか懐かしい気持ちにさせる。
The tone of a flute heard from afar on a quiet night makes you feel somehow nostalgic.
2.
whistle
An instrument that makes a shrill sound when blown.
笛が鳴った。
The whistle blew.
審判が笛を吹いて試合を止めた。
The referee blew the whistle and stopped the match.
警察官が交差点で笛を吹いて車を止めた。
The police officer blew a whistle at the intersection to stop the cars.
体育の先生が笛を吹くと、生徒たちは走るのをやめて集まった。
When the PE teacher blew the whistle, the students stopped running and gathered together.
地震のとき、助けを呼ぶために防災用の笛を持っておくといい。
It's good to have a disaster whistle on hand to call for help during an earthquake.
防災用の笛 = disaster whistle
笛 is a general term that covers both musical flutes and signal whistles. The word is composed of 物 + 音 (thing + sound) in its historical form.
TYPES OF FLUTES:
- 横笛: transverse flute (played sideways)
- 縦笛: recorder (played vertically) — every Japanese student learns this in school
- 尺八: shakuhachi (traditional bamboo flute)
- フルート: Western concert flute
WHISTLE USAGE:
- 審判の笛: referee's whistle
- 防災用の笛: emergency whistle
COMMON PATTERNS:
- 笛を吹く: to play a flute / to blow a whistle
- 笛の音: sound of a flute/whistle
- 笛が鳴る: a whistle sounds
- 物音ひとつしない: not a single sound