https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english-to-latin/advertising-public-relations/5282777-unity-breeds-power.html

Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

Unity breeds power

Latin translation:

Vis unita fortior

Added to glossary by Sandra Mouton
Jul 26, 2013 21:07
10 yrs ago
English term

Unity breeds power

Non-PRO English to Latin Marketing Advertising / Public Relations police motto
The Tennessee Highway Patrol Special Operations Division is creating a new logo/motto. We would like to include a Latin phrase but are unable to interpret/speak Latin so our rendition is poor at best.

I realize that Latin is not a modern language, but I am soliciting your assistance in locating someone who can translate a simple English phrase into Latin with the proper pronunciation.
Change log

Jul 26, 2013 21:18: jukiuni73 changed "Language pair" from "Latin to English" to "English to Latin"

Aug 9, 2013 07:38: Sandra Mouton Created KOG entry

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

PRO (1): BrigitteHilgner

When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.

How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:

An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)

A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).

Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.

When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.

* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.

Discussion

This is technically against the rules, but I can't not comment on the divergence of the proposed translations from the source. That's just not how things are done. A motto needs to be consistent across languages. The asker does not seem to have the power to alter the source, therefore a phrase with a different meaning, different vibe, different emphasis, cannot be used. Fidelity was lost here.

Proposed translations

+2
2 hrs
Selected

different possibility

There is
Concordia res parvae crescunt = unity makes small things grow
or
Vis unita fortior = united strength is stronger
or Virtus unita fortior = united virtue/power is stronger
These have been used by various countries and territories throughout history.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2013-07-27 00:07:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, I meant "different possibilities".
Peer comment(s):

agree BrigitteHilgner : I prefer "virtus unita fortior" (just my personal taste).
5 hrs
Thanks Brigitte
agree Joseph Brazauskas : 'Concordia res parvae crescunt' ('by concord small things grow') is perhaps the best.
10 hrs
Thanks Joseph
neutral Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz : Those proposals are far from being the equivalent of the English original. Rather, you are proposing new versions of the motto itself in both English and Latin, to be chosen instead of what it is now. This should be made clear.
11 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
+1
1 hr

unitas vim paret

I'll explain in a moment to avoid being outraced while typing.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2013-07-26 22:34:42 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

So, I believe that 'breeds' here is just a stylistic choice dictated by some unique tastes in English, just like in Latin, you'd choose pareo, parere – to give birth to something, to bring it to the world. You could also translate 'power' in numerous different ways, but the standard force/strength kind of power is 'vis', or, in the accusative case as here, 'vim'.

Curiously, you could also say 'unitate vis paret' to say, literally, 'of power is unity born'.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2013-07-26 22:36:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A reference literally to breeding could be misunderstood or just simply fail to be understood, I believe. It would basically sound like generation or procreation and that's it. So, IMHO, you want parere here.
Peer comment(s):

agree Joseph Brazauskas : But I suspect that you man 'parit', not 'paret', the latter of which forms does not exist.
12 hrs
Yes, sorry and thanks.
Something went wrong...