货物
huòwù · HSK 7
freight
📦 货物 = 货 goods + 物 thing; the trade-goods and objects that get shipped
货 means goods or merchandise, 物 means thing or object, so 货物 is literally goods-things: the cargo, freight, or shipment moved from place to place. Sound hook: huòwù rhymes with itself, huo-wu, two falling tones like crates thudding down.
货 — 化 (huà, phonetic) + 貝 (shell, money)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 貝 (cowrie shell) signals money or commerce, while 化 supplies the sound. Cowries served as ancient Chinese currency, so 货 originally meant valuables exchanged for shells, later broadening to 'goods' or 'merchandise'.