The Chinese word "苏菲" (Sūfēi) is a phonetic transliteration formed to approximate the sound of the foreign name "Sophie" or "Sophia". It is created by selecting two existing Chinese characters whose combined pronunciation closely matches the original name's syllables, "苏" (sū) for "So-" and "菲" (fēi) for "-phie". This is a standard method in Chinese for adapting foreign names, where the chosen characters often carry independent meanings (here, "苏" can refer to the Jiangsu region or revival, and "菲" means fragrant or lush), though their primary function in this context is phonetic representation rather than semantic meaning.