Use of 物 as a noun suffix, specifically 配達物


More pain with Duolingo. I've come across the word 配達物{はいたつぶつ}. It's supposed
to mean "delivery" but it's not in Jisho, it's not in Weblio, it's not in my
beginner paper dictionary and it's not in my good paper dictionary. And
indeed, a Google search only yields six pages of results.

配達 is in all these dictionaries, and it means "delivery" in its own right.
What is the purpose of appending 物? How does it change the meaning? Is this a
relatively recently invented word?

Can anything be said more generally about using 物 as a noun suffix?




This is simply an English confusion. When you look up
[_delivery_](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/delivery):

> **Delivery** or a **delivery** is the bringing of letters, parcels, or other
> goods to someone's house or to another place where they want them.  
>  **Synonyms** : handing over, transfer, distribution, transmission

The definition above corresponds to 配達. Meanwhile,

> A **delivery** of something is the goods that are delivered.  
>  **Synonyms** : consignment, goods, shipment, batch

corresponds to 配達物. Obviously it means "deliver(ed) stuff".

If anything that can be generalized, Japanese has many instances that a word
denotes an abstract notion and -物 means an embodiment of it.

  * 構造 structure (conceived) / 構造物 structure (built)
  * 出版 publication / 出版物 publication (book)
  * 分泌 secretion / 分泌物 secretion (juice)

But many words do have such distinction in English too, like 生産 "production"
vs 生産物 "product", or 添加 "addition" vs 添加物 "additive" etc.




This is simply an English confusion. When you look up
[_delivery_](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/delivery):

> **Delivery** or a **delivery** is the bringing of letters, parcels, or other
> goods to someone's house or to another place where they want them.  
>  **Synonyms** : handing over, transfer, distribution, transmission

The definition above corresponds to 配達. Meanwhile,

> A **delivery** of something is the goods that are delivered.  
>  **Synonyms** : consignment, goods, shipment, batch

corresponds to 配達物. Obviously it means "deliver(ed) stuff".

If anything that can be generalized, Japanese has many instances that a word
denotes an abstract notion and -物 means an embodiment of it.

  * 構造 structure (conceived) / 構造物 structure (built)
  * 出版 publication / 出版物 publication (book)
  * 分泌 secretion / 分泌物 secretion (juice)

But many words do have such distinction in English too, like 生産 "production"
vs 生産物 "product", or 添加 "addition" vs 添加物 "additive" etc.

