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Semantic Barriers: Prepared By

This document discusses semantic barriers to communication. Semantic barriers arise due to differences in the meaning of signs, symbols, words, and language used between communicators. There are several types of semantic barriers, including denotative barriers which occur when the direct meaning of a word is understood differently, and connotative barriers which involve differences in abstract meanings associated with words. Other causes of semantic barriers are homophones, homonyms, homographs, cultural differences, differing word usage across regions, ambiguous language, variations in dialects, and selective perception between communicators. Semantic barriers can distort messages and make intended meanings difficult to understand.

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986 views10 pages

Semantic Barriers: Prepared By

This document discusses semantic barriers to communication. Semantic barriers arise due to differences in the meaning of signs, symbols, words, and language used between communicators. There are several types of semantic barriers, including denotative barriers which occur when the direct meaning of a word is understood differently, and connotative barriers which involve differences in abstract meanings associated with words. Other causes of semantic barriers are homophones, homonyms, homographs, cultural differences, differing word usage across regions, ambiguous language, variations in dialects, and selective perception between communicators. Semantic barriers can distort messages and make intended meanings difficult to understand.

Uploaded by

doraemon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Semantic

Barriers

Prepared by:-
Sruthi Ramachandran
MBA-B
8/12/2019
Roll no:b2356 1
Introduction
 Semantic is the study of meaning, signs and symbols
used for communication.
 This word is derived from “sema”, a Greek word
meaning signs.
 Semantic barriers to communication are the symbolic
obstacles that distorts the sent message in some
other way than intended, making the message
difficult to understand.
 It also arises due to language, education, culture and
place of origin or most likely their experiences.
 It is related to language barriers in communication.

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Types of Semantic Barriers in
Communication

Denotative Barriers
Direct meaning of any word which must be
shared by two people to understand each
other is the denotative meaning. The barriers
that arise due to the definition or meaning of a
word used differently by sender and receiver is
denotative barriers of communication.
E.g.:-”Dove” in dictionary means a type of
pigeon, a wild domesticated bird having a
heavy body and short legs. In literature,
"dove” is used to mean a messenger of
peace.

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Types of Semantic Barriers in
Communication(contd…)

Connotative Barriers
Connotative barrier in communication
refers to the difference of meaning
according to different abstract situations,
contexts, actions and feelings. Both the
communicators know both meanings of the
word, but use only one meaning according
to the context, which might be being used
differently in the context.
E.g.:-The word god, which is used
differently by people following different
religions.

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Causes of Semantic Barriers in
Communication
Homophones
Words with same pronunciation but different
meaning which might have different spelling
too.
E.g.:-stair, stare
steal, steel
Homonyms
Words which have the same pronunciation and
their spellings are mostly same, but the
intended meaning is different.
E.g.:-Crane- a bird
Crane- a machine used at construction sites

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Causes of Semantic Barriers in
Communication(contd…)
Homographs
Homographs are the words that have the same
spelling but the pronunciation and meaning
are different.
E.g.:- “The research lead to the discovery of
lead”. In this sentence, both the words have
the same spelling, but different pronunciation
and different meanings.

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Causes of Semantic Barriers in
Communication(contd…)
Other factors:-
Cultural difference
Use of the “Swastika” symbol in Hinduism
and for German Nazi can be taken as an
example.
Difference in use of words
Brinjals are referred to as aubergines in
North America, Australia and New Zealand
and eggplants in Great Britain.

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Causes of Semantic Barriers in
Communication(contd…)
Body language and gestures
If someone requests you with a catapult
posture (hands and elbows behind head)
which is used to show intimidation, you will
interpret the request as order and might resist
doing it.
Use of ambiguous words
“A small fish” can be interpreted as of any
size. But if the word is used as “a fish smaller
than a marble”, then the size can be predicted
properly.

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Causes of Semantic Barriers in
Communication(contd…)
Differences in dialects
The dialect of speaking English by an Australian is
different than of an American. People from Australia
use the word “autumn” whereas Americans use the
word “fall”.

Filtering by senders and selective perception by receivers

A magazine which has middle aged women as target


will filter their articles and will not include anything
about business. That is filtering. A reader looking at the
magazine will skip the articles which is not of his/her
interest. That is selective perception.

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