The Chinese word **存货 (cúnhuò)**, meaning "inventory" or "stock," is a **compound word** formed by combining two meaningful characters: **存 (cún)**, which means "to store, keep, or preserve," and **货 (huò)**, which means "goods, merchandise, or commodities." Its formation follows the common Chinese linguistic structure of a **verb-object relationship**, where the first character describes an action (**存** - storing) performed upon the object denoted by the second character (**货** - goods). Thus, the word's meaning is directly and logically derived from the sum of its parts: "stored goods," which perfectly encapsulates the concept of inventory held for sale or use.