Semantic barriers of communication relate to the use or understanding of language. Sometimes certain words, sentences or phrases are misinterpreted or misunderstood. In such cases, effective communication is obstructed. Such barriers in communication that arise out of ambiguity or difficulty in understanding of words and sentences are known as semantic barriers. The following are some of the causes of semantic barriers.
i. Sometimes due to poor vocabulary or wrong use of words, the information may not be clearly expressed.
ii. At times a word may have more than one meaning or two or more words may have same pronunciation (such as idle and idol). In such cases, the correct interpretation of the word remains ambiguous.
iii. In certain cases the proficiency of a language differs among the workers and the mangers. In such cases, a translation of the information is required in the language which is understandable to the workers. However, in the process of translation some of the words or sentences may get misinterpreted. For example, in a translation of an instruction from English to Hindi, the meaning of certain words might change.
iv. At times while giving out instructions the senior or specialist uses technical vocabulary that might be difficult to understand for the subordinates.
