The Chinese word "芭蕾" for ballet is formed through a process of phonetic transliteration, where two characters are selected solely for their sound to approximate the foreign term: "芭" (bā) and "蕾" (lěi) combine to mimic the pronunciation of the English word "ballet". This method of adopting foreign vocabulary by matching syllables with existing Chinese characters is a standard approach for importing concepts without pre-existing equivalents, allowing the word to be integrated into the language while maintaining phonetic familiarity. The characters' original meanings, such as "芭" referring to a plant and "蕾" meaning bud, are incidental and do not contribute to the word's semantic meaning, which is entirely derived from its association with the dance form.