The Chinese word 利兹 (Lìzī) is a phonetic transliteration, specifically chosen to approximate the sound of the English city name "Leeds." It is formed using two existing Chinese characters—利 (lì), meaning "sharp" or "benefit," and 兹 (zī), an archaic term for "this" or "now"—whose primary function here is to replicate the foreign pronunciation rather than convey their original meanings. This method of creating new words by borrowing sounds from other languages is common in Chinese for translating foreign names, with the characters selected based on their modern Mandarin pronunciation to achieve the closest possible auditory match to the source word.