I learned two words meaning "to compensate" "to make up for" and "to atone
for" recently: 贖う and 償う. What is the difference between them? I feel like
since they both end in なう they might be interchangeable but I don't know.
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2016-09-04T18:52:20.463
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2016-09-04T23:55:51.380
2016-09-04T23:55:51.380
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question
word-choice nuances
Difference between 贖う【あがなう】 and 償う【つぐなう】
Somebody on Yahoo! Chiebukuro asked this exact same question. For reference,
here is the post:
[償いと贖いの違いは何ですか？](http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1085034160)

If I understand correctly, the answer there says that 贖【あがな】う is used
exclusively to describe the atonement of money or goods, while 償【つぐな】う is used
more broadly and can describe other situations (moral or physiological).
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2016-09-04T19:41:13.140
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2016-09-04T22:59:13.693
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answer