What does "fūtsu" mean?

Question

This is from Yuki-onna:

Mosaku no kao ni iki wo fu-tsu to fukikaketa.

The "fuutsu/fu-tsu" is written in katakana and is most likely an onomatopoeic word, related to breathing. It's not essential to the translation, but it's really bugging me.

Answer 1

This is either a typo or a "reado".

Trying to reconstruct the original sentence from your rōmaji version, I'm guessing it is

茂作の顔に息をフーッと吹きかけた

フーッと is listed in some dictionaries (e.g. WWWJDIC)

ふーっと
フーッと
(adv,on-mim)

with a whiff; with a puff

The ッ is small (compare ッ with ツ) and is geminating the following "t" sound. The romanization of the small tsu is done by doubling the following consonant, so f­ūtto (and not fūtsu to).

You're correct in assuming it's an onomatopoeia and it's usually used for the sound produced when breathing out (either forcefully, or with a sound).

By the way, there are other onomatopoeic words that follow this pattern. Either they are written in all hiragana, or in katakana with only the と in hiragana:

• じーっと or ジーッと
• ぼーっと or ボーッと

or more generally also

• ささっと or ササッと
• ぎゅっと or ギュッと
• etc.

(Here と is written in hiragana for its grammatical function — it is turning an onomatopoeic expression into a "to-adverb", see for example What is the purpose of adding と? and the linked questions listed over on that question under "Related".)