This barrier becomes much complicated since the significant meaning needs a mutual level of understanding for effective communication. The meaning of the word does not arise by itself but in the relation between the text and the context. Here both sender and receivers are aware of the meaning of the word but the disagreement occurs when the context, situation and emotion behind the word will be different. Connotations are understood based only on an individual’s experience. In addition to its exact or lexical meaning, words also acquire implied meanings called connotative meanings.
Connotative barriers refer to the differences in the meaning of the defined word.The word “comment” for new generation Facebook users are different from the older generation who never used or aware of social media networking websites. These kinds of barriers happen when sender and receiver disagree with the meaning of the word. Denotative barriers which are based on and caused by the direct meaning of a word.There are two types of semantic barrier of communication. But one who follows Gandhian ideology, the understanding of socialist state is where people belong to various caste, religion and caste are treated equally and lead as a single community regardless of their differences. For example, Socialism is a broad political and social concept where the control and regulation of society and economy are by the community as a whole regardless of caste, religion and class. Similar kind of communication barrier is found in understanding concepts also. This is not because the outsider can’t follow the language (text) but the relationship between text and situation (context). For an example, the conversation between two close friends about their day will be meaningful between them but it is impossible for an outsider to understand. Differences in dialect, cultural differences, body language, and the choice of word, pronunciation differences and spelling errors are the main causes of a semantic barrier.Ĭommunication scholars like Garfinkel (1984), Jovchelovitch (1995 2007) and Lunenburg (2010) studied on semantic barrier of communication and explained how it affects the interpersonal and social relations. Thus semantic barrier is an important element in communication theories at different levels. The variations of meaning in language are visible between individuals in minor and cultures in major. The Semantic barrier can be caused in every type of communication. Semantics is a broad interdisciplinary study which deals with philosophical and logical understanding behind the language. The word semantic is credited to the Greek word “semantikos” which indicates “significant”. It can be in form of language, sign and symbol. The Semantic barrier in communication can be defined as the misunderstanding and interpretation of meaning which restrict effective communication.