The term unintelligible , coming from the Latin word inintelligibĭlis . We can establish that this Latin word is the result of the sum of two lexical components of said language:
-The prefix «in-«, which means «no» or «without».
-The word "intelligibilis", which can be translated as "understandable" and is formed from these components: the prefix "inter-", which is equivalent to "between"; the verb "legere", which is synonymous with "read" or "choose"; and the suffix "-bilis", which is used to indicate "possibility."
It allows you to qualify that which is not intelligible : that is, that which cannot be understood .
Among the many synonyms that the word unintelligible has, we can highlight some such as incomprehensible, cryptic, unknowable, indecipherable or illegible. On the contrary, its antonyms include terms such as understandable, legible, decipherable, clear or precise, for example.
Various factors make something unintelligible. What is not heard clearly , for example, is unintelligible: "The man muttered something unintelligible before turning around and leaving the place in confusion" , "Juana shouted something to me from the train but, due to the noise, it was unintelligible to me" , «What was that unintelligible thing that Rafael whispered to you at the table?» .
When a person does not master a certain language , what is expressed in that language seems unintelligible: "A young Asian man entered the premises saying unintelligible things and, since we did not understand him, he left" , "This is unintelligible to me: it is written in German and I don't speak that language," "We need a translator so that the Russian businessman's speech is not unintelligible."
Intricate and deep content , presented with dark or far-fetched prose, is often unintelligible. In these cases, the author generally demands knowledge, attention and the ability to reflect on his reader or listener, since he uses expressions that are not easily understood or assimilated. That is why a young man, after reading a Russian experimental writer, states that he found his novel unintelligible: he could not understand the story or what the author meant to allude to.
In the same way, we cannot ignore that, popularly, it is often said that the handwriting of people who practice medicine is unintelligible. And when they make a recipe or write a history, it is common not to understand anything that is written because they have fast and angular writing.
In addition to everything indicated, we have to establish that the fact that a boy or girl has unintelligible language when he or she is 3 years old and is not able to maintain conservation shows that he or she has a problem. Specifically, it is a clear example that he has a delay in language and that he may suffer from disorders such as dysphasia or dyslexia , for example.
Finally, what cannot be accepted from a moral or religious perspective or from a certain culture can also be mentioned as unintelligible: "That there are people who eat dog meat seems unintelligible to me" , "Such behavior is unintelligible in our religion" .