The Chinese word 伊斯坦布尔 is formed solely through phonetic transliteration, where each character is chosen for its sound to approximate the foreign name "Istanbul": 伊 (yī) corresponds to "I", 斯 (sī) to "s", 坦 (tǎn) to "tan", 布 (bù) to "bul", and 尔 (ěr) to the final "r" sound, resulting in the sequential pronunciation yīsītǎnbù'ěr that mimics the original.