Huawei is the official transliteration of the firm's Chinese name (simplified Chinese: 华为; traditional Chinese: 華為; pinyin: Huáwéi). The etymology of the character 华 is derived from "花" which means "flower". This is hinted at in Huawei's logo. The character can also mean "splendid" or "magnificent", but nowadays mostly refers to "China" or "(ethnic) Chinese" (see also Names of China). It is common for Chinese companies to use this word; another example being the Taiwanese company Asus (simplified Chinese: 华硕; traditional Chinese: 華碩; pinyin: Huáshuò; literally: "Chinese-Eminent") that was founded back in 1989. The second character of Huawei's name, 为, means "action" or "achievement", thus Huawei literally means "Chinese achievement".[citation needed] It is pronounced "Wah-Way" according to a Gizmodo video that claims to provide the 'official' pronunciation,[18] as well as many other internet sources. However, "Wah-Way" is incorrect, and is an unfortunate perpetuation of a mistaken combination of the Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciations for the first and second characters, respectively. The Cantonese pronunciation is "Wah-Waii",[19] while the Mandarin pronunciation is "Hwa-Way" (IPA: [ˈhwɑːˌweɪ]). Although the company is based in the Cantonese-speaking area of Guangdong, the use of Huawei as the spelling for its name refers to the Mandarin pronunciation of "Hwa-Way"
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