The Chinese word "苏黎世" (Sūlíshì) is a direct phonetic transcription of the name of the Swiss city Zurich, formed through a process of transliteration where each character is chosen primarily for its sound rather than its meaning. The characters "苏" (sū), "黎" (lí), and "世" (shì) together approximate the pronunciation of the German name "Zürich," with the choice of these specific characters being conventional and historically established, often influenced by positive or neutral connotations, to create a standardized Chinese name for the foreign location.