The Chinese word 卢卡斯 (Lúkǎsī) is a phonetic transcription formed through the process of transliteration, specifically to represent the sound of the foreign name "Lucas". Each character is chosen not for its meaning, but for how closely its pronunciation approximates a syllable of the original name: 卢 (Lú) for "Lu", 卡 (kǎ) for "cas", and 斯 (sī) for the "s" sound, collectively creating a close auditory match within the constraints of Mandarin's phonetic system.