The word 威廉 is formed through phonetic translation, specifically by selecting two existing Chinese characters whose pronunciations closely approximate the sounds of the foreign name "William". The character 威 (wēi) mimics the "Wil-" or "Will-" sound, while 廉 (lián) approximates the "-liam" ending. This process prioritizes sound imitation over the original meanings of the individual characters, which are unrelated to the name's significance, resulting in a conventional phonetic representation used for this particular name in Chinese.