Abstract: Scholars have different opinions on how can the word “中国” be named “China” in English. They have tried to explore the puzzle from the sociological perspective but without adequate literature to make their own argument convinced by other scholars. This paper,from the perspective of word formation and phonology,tries to make further discussion on the problem and argues that the English word “China” is the evolutive result of transliteration of Chinese word “Qin”,name of an ancient Chinese dynasty. Besides,the word “China” originally referred to the name of the country and then referred to the porcelain made in the country and then all porcelain made in anywhere.

Key words: China, derivation, transliteration, word formation, phonology