The Chinese word "吉它" (jítā) for "guitar" is a **phonetic transcription** formed through the common process of **transliteration**, where characters are chosen primarily for their sound rather than their meaning to approximate the pronunciation of a foreign word. In this case, "吉" (jí) mimics the first syllable "gui" or "gi," and "它" (tā) replicates the "tar" sound, together creating a close auditory match to the English word "guitar." While the individual characters have original meanings ("吉" means "auspicious/lucky" and "它" means "it/other"), their semantic roles are largely irrelevant here, as the compound functions purely as a **loanword** representing the imported musical instrument.