compensation payment to those who died in the earthquake.

[Silver]

Hi,

Here is a part of my translation:

The government allocated ￥100,000 as a compensation payment to those who died in the earthquake.

The government allocated ￥100,000 as a financial compensation to those who died in the earthquake.

The government allocated ￥100,000 as a comfort fund to those who died in the earthquake.


Which phrase is the best and idiomatic to mean that the money is for comforting the victims' family?


Thanks a lot

 

[JamesM]

Well, it all seems a little odd. They didn't award the money to the people who died, did they? They awarded it to the families of those who died. Is it ￥100,000 per family?

 

[jiamajia]

Well, it all seems a little odd. They didn't award the money to the people who died, did they? They awarded it to the families of those who died. Is it ￥100,000 per family?

Yes, it should be 100 thousand per death. The off-topic truth is the money receivers are supposed to sign off their rights to sue the developers who used defective materials for the buildings whose unduly collapses are the major causes for most deaths.

 

[JamesM]

If you want to characterize it as such you could call it "hush money".

The government allocated ￥100,000 per earthquake victim to be paid to the victims' families as compensation / hush money.

 

[Silver]

Well, it all seems a little odd. They didn't award the money to the people who died, did they? They awarded it to the families of those who died. Is it ￥100,000 per family?

Yeah, the government gave the money to those whose familiy members were dead in the earthquake. Indeed, ￥100,000 is a number I randomly chose, it could be any number.

 

[Silver]

If you want to characterize it as such you could call it "hush money".

The government allocated ￥100,000 per earthquake victim to be paid to the victims' families as compensation / hush money.

No, James, Hush money seems to do with bribery.

Here I want to say that because the government doesn't know what to do and they can only give money to those victims' family as a way to make them feel better.

It has nothing to do with bad materials and real estate developers or whatever.

 

[JamesM]

Ah, in that case, then, I would say "compensation". I don't think you could say "relief" or "comfort". The money doesn't comfort them, in my opinion, but it does make a small step towards compensating them for their loss.

 

[Silver]

The money doesn't comfort them, in my opinion, but it does make a small step towards compensating them for their loss.

Yeah, that's what I am looking for, so the idiomatic expression should be:

The government allocated ￥100,000 as a compensation to those who died in the earthquake.

Is it right?

 

[jiamajia]

Yeah, that's what I am looking for, so the idiomatic expression should be:

The government allocated ￥100,000 as a compensation to those who died in the earthquake.

Is it right?

For me, the term 'compensation' shows the government somewhat caused those human losses, which you may disagree.

 

[heypresto]

It isn't right to say the money was allocated to those who died.

I would say JamesM's suggestion above is the clearest - The government allocated ￥100,000 per earthquake victim to be paid to the victims' families as compensation.

The word compensation can mean, in legal terms, damages recoverable by reason of another's breach of duty (Wiki) - so jiamajia has a point - but it is also the correct word to use in this context.

 

[Parla]

It isn't right to say the money was allocated to those who died.

I would say JamesM's suggestion above is the clearest - The government allocated ￥100,000 per earthquake victim to be paid to the victims' families as compensation.

The word compensation can mean, in legal terms, damages recoverable by reason of another's breach of duty (Wiki) - so jiamajia has a point - but it is also the correct word to use in this context.

That sounds good, but one small problem: "Victim" doesn't say that it's someone who was killed. A person whose leg was broken, or someone who is in the hospital in a coma, is also a victim.

Perhaps, rather than repeat the word "victim", you could essentially define the word: "The government allocated [sum] per victim to be paid to the families of those who died in the earthquake."

The word "compensation", with its apparent controversy, need not be used. Omitting it doesn't change the meaning.

 

[heypresto]

That sounds good, but one small problem: "Victim" doesn't say that it's someone who was killed. A person whose leg was broken, or someone who is in the hospital in a coma, is also a victim.

Perhaps, rather than repeat the word "victim", you could essentially define the word: "The government allocated [sum] per victim to be paid to the families of those who died in the earthquake."

The word "compensation", with its apparent controversy, need not be used. Omitting it doesn't change the meaning.

Yes, I would wholeheartedly agtree with all of that. The nail has been eloquently hit on the head!

 

[PaulQ]

A bit legal but, "The government allocated ￥100,000 as a compensation to the estate those who died in the earthquake.

(To have an estate (your assets at death), you have to have died.)

 

[jiamajia]

A bit legal but, "The government allocated ￥100,000 as a compensation to the estate those who died in the earthquake.

(To have an estate (your assets at death), you have to have died.)

I think the background info is that there has been a public outcry citing those who died should not have died if the building materials involved had been in good quality. Evidence is very strong, because the collapsed buildings have the debris clearly shown what they were actually made of. Now the government stepped in calling the challenge illegal and offering money to end the case. You know this is China.

 

[Parla]

"Estate" doesn't work. It contradicts the facts; money to an estate is not the same as money to a family. And some people die intestate.

 

[PaulQ]

"Estate" doesn't work. It contradicts the facts; money to an estate is not the same as money to a family. And some people die intestate.

No. This is not so. "estate" and "intestate" come from different roots and are not connected.

An estate is as I described above. Intestate simply means there was no will - in = without, testate = testament or witness http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=intestate&searchmode=none

If you die intestate, your estate is divided up amongst your relatives, i.e. family. If there are none, the state usually has rules for dealing with the matter.