The Chinese word **莫扎特** (Mòzhātè) is a **phonetic transcription** formed to approximate the sounds of the foreign name "Mozart." It follows the common Chinese practice of **transliteration**, where characters are selected primarily for their sound (mò-zhā-tè) rather than their meaning. The characters were chosen during a period of early Western cultural exchange (likely the late 19th or early 20th century) based on their pronunciation in Mandarin, resulting in a now-standardized three-character name that is semantically neutral but instantly recognizable as referring to the composer.