Short and sweet question for you guys.
Is this:
Quote:
Sapientia Donum Dei
The proper translation for this:
Quote:
Wisdom is the gift of God
Nobody? If nobody knows this personally, where would be the best place for me to find out this information?
The Latin professor at a nearby college or university? I corresponded with a professor emeritus of Greek and Latin classics to figure out how to say what I wanted correctly. As Joe McMillan often, and correctly, points out, though, it really isn’t necessary to put mottoes in Latin. I wanted mine in Latin because the translated Latin is a sort of homage to some Mansfield and clan chief mottoes that also use variations of Fortiter. Given the religious nature of yours, might it be more meaningful for people to know what it means when they read it rather than when it is translated for them?
Kenneth Mansfield;78002 wrote:
As Joe McMillan often, and correctly, points out, though, it really isn’t necessary to put mottoes in Latin. I wanted mine in Latin because the translated Latin is a sort of homage to some Mansfield and clan chief mottoes that also use variations of Fortiter.
Which I think is an adequate reason. Mine’s in Latin because its a quotation, which is another reason, but I’ve been thinking about swapping it for a Gaelic motto to answer the MacMillan chief’s secondary motto.
Joseph McMillan;78006 wrote:
...but I’ve been thinking about swapping it for a Gaelic motto to answer the MacMillan chief’s secondary motto.
But why not answer his secondary motto with your own secondary motto?
Sapientia donum Dei
I tend to like putting things in other languages, because I have a certain love for different languages. Which, was part of my reasoning. Latin just seemed like the logical choice since it seems to be the language that gets used for mottos often times. Perhaps selecting a more meaningful language to me would be a better idea. I like the fact that a person has to ask me what the motto means, because then it gives me a better opportunity to explain it to them. Otherwise if it’s just in English, they read it, blow it off, and move to the next thing.
Kenneth Mansfield;78007 wrote:
But why not answer his secondary motto with your own secondary motto?
Bias against accretion of doodads, I guess.
Sapientia Donum Dei = Wisdom is the gift of God
Yes, this is correct. Since Latin does not express indefinite or definite articles, it may also be translated as a gift of God. You may also want to place "Dei" before "donum" since customarily the genitive preceeds its accompanying noun, but this is just stylistic and doesn’t affect the meaning.
Thanks Daniel 
sorry Joshua, i’m not a good Latin man though i prefer it in my mass every Sunday. couldn’t help ya sorry.
Must not get a lot out of mass if you have trouble even understanding it 
AILD;78031 wrote:
Must not get a lot out of mass if you have trouble even understanding it
As a non-Catholic, I would only observe that, to a Catholic, the value of attending Mass has little if anything to do with understanding the language in which it is said, and that therefore this is not a safe subject for joking. In any case, it takes us onto ground that is strewn with landmines, and we ought to tread carefully back onto the heraldic path.
Agreed, it was just an observation.