The Chinese word "斯坦福" is a direct phonetic transcription of the English name "Stanford", formed through a common transliteration process where each Chinese character represents a syllable of the original name: "斯" (sī) approximates "Stan", "坦" (tǎn) captures the "ford" sound, and the final "福" (fú) is added to complete the phonetic match for the "d" sound while often carrying a positive connotation (meaning "fortune" or "good luck"), which is typical in Chinese renderings of foreign names to ensure they sound harmonious and culturally acceptable.