The Chinese word **约瑟 (Yuēsè)** is a **phonetic loan translation** formed to approximate the sound of the foreign name "Joseph" (from Biblical/Hebrew origins). It is constructed by selecting two existing Chinese characters (**约** *yuē* and **瑟** *sè*) whose combined pronunciation closely mimics "Jo-seph," while the individual meanings of the characters (which can imply "agreement" and a type of ancient zither, respectively) are essentially disregarded, serving only as phonetic carriers for the transliteration. This process is a standard method in Chinese for adopting foreign names, especially those from religious or historical texts.