Microsoft Word Revised Syllabus Ver doc

3. Imitation 
A group of authors from Fredrich Schleiermacher of the eighteenth century down to 
authors and translators like Newman, Carlyle and Morris held the view that there was a need 
to create a separate sub-language for use in the translated text. This view could have stemmed 
from their inability to find equivalents between SL and TL at the formal and functional level. 
Every language had its own form and function that are quite different from those of the other. 
They found it difficult and impossible to transport some of the special SL features into the 
TL. They, therefore, felt the need to create a sub-language specifically for use in the TL 
context so as to transport the special features of the SL message (concept) which were not 
present in the TL.
A consideration of the first person plural in Tamil and English would reveal that 
Tamil has the inclusive plural and the exclusive plural as separate items. English does not 
have this distinction. In order to transfer a message involving the first person plural, inclusive 
or exclusive in Tamil into English, one is forced to use a sub-language specifically for this 
purpose. Catford (1965), while dealing with such a situation from Bhasha Indonesia into 
English, suggests a simple solution. He calls this feature transference. He also cites similar 
problems in the realization of the colours of the rainbow by different linguistic groups. While 
the Navajo language distinguishes the rainbow as having three colours, viz. icli, ico and 
dootliz, English recognizes seven colours inn the rainbow. So Catford has suggested a way 
out of this difficulty. His solution is something akin to the creation of a sub-language. 
4. Adaptation 
Some among the translations of the Romantic and post-Romantic era opposed the 
process of importing the SL culture into the TL culture. They preferred to take the core of the 
message from the SL and refit it to accommodating the TL culture. It was felt that the 
association of the TL culture in the message, leaving out the SL culture, would have more 
effect on the reader than otherwise. Edward Fizgerald (1878) was a forerunner of this school 
of thought. He read and enjoyed the Rubaiyats of the Persian poet Omar Khayyam. He was 
exhilarated and he felt the urge to give it to English incorporating the cultural features of the 

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English language ignoring the features of the Persian culture. Many poets followed this form 
of translation. 
Dryden classified the translation models into three namely (1) metaphrase (2) 
paraphrase and (3) imitation. Roman scholars were translating Greek literature into Latin 
using mostly this first category. In the second type of translation, the translator took the sense 
of the original source text and translated the message in such a sway that there was perfect 
union or near complete identity of the message. The third one imitation could have stemmed 
from their inability to find equivalents between source language and targets language at the 
formal and functional level. 

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