The Chinese word "萨达姆" (Sàdámǔ) is a direct phonetic translation, or transliteration, of the Arabic name "صدام" (Saddām), specifically referring to the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. It was formed by selecting Chinese characters whose modern Mandarin pronunciations closely approximate the syllables of the original foreign name, "萨" (sà) for "Sad", "达" (dá) for "dam", and the slightly elongated "姆" (mǔ) to capture the final consonant sound. This is a standard method in Chinese for rendering foreign proper nouns, where the chosen characters serve purely as sound carriers, with their individual meanings (e.g., 萨 can mean "bodhisattva", 达 "to reach", 姆 "nanny") being entirely irrelevant and disregarded in this context.