The Chinese word "莎拉" is formed through a process of phonetic transliteration, specifically to represent the sound of the foreign name "Sarah". The characters are chosen not for their individual meanings but primarily for how closely their pronunciations ("shā" for 莎 and "lā" for 拉) approximate the original English syllables. However, the characters are selected from a pool of homophones with consideration for their aesthetic and semantic connotations; 莎 often appears in poetic words for lush grass or herbs, and 拉 suggests elegance and grace, together creating a feminine and pleasant impression that complements the sound. Thus, it is a crafted phonetic borrowing where the characters' inherent meanings subtly enhance the name's overall feel.