银行
yínháng · HSK 2
bank
🏦 银 = silver + 行 = firm/shop; literally a silver-shop, i.e. a bank
银 (yín) means silver; 行 (háng) here is read háng meaning a trade, firm, or shop (not xíng 'to walk'). A 银行 is a silver-shop — the classical Chinese term for a bank, dating to the era when silver was the main currency.
银 — metal radical 钅 + 艮 (phonetic)
银 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 钅 (the metal radical, from 金) signals the meaning category—metals. The right side 艮 supplies the sound. Originally referring to silver as a metal, it later extended to mean money, currency, and bank-related terms.
行 — crossroads pictograph (left 彳 + right 亍)
行 originally pictured a four-way crossroads in oracle bone script, with two paths meeting. From 'road' it extended to 'walk, go, travel,' and then to 'a row, line' or 'business firm' (read háng). The two halves 彳 and 亍 are the split sides of that ancient crossroads.