The concept of intelligible comes from the Latin word intelligibĭlis . It is an adjective that refers to that which can be understood .
For example: “The scientist avoided specialized vocabulary and gave an intelligible explanation, which all of us present understood without major difficulties,” “The signs with the instructions must be intelligible to avoid accidents,” “The German sociologist's texts are not intelligible .” for the general public.”
Certain speeches or expressions , due to their characteristics and content, may be difficult to understand for those who do not have technical or specialized knowledge. Therefore, to expand the scope of what is communicated and allow more people to have access to what is expressed, sometimes these issues must be taken into account to prepare an intelligible speech.
Suppose a surgeon has just performed a complex surgical procedure on a famous singer. Dozens of journalists are waiting for him at the door of the hospital so that he can provide a medical report and inform society what type of illness afflicted the figure, what type of operation was performed and how his evolution is expected to be. The surgeon, in this framework, will have to make an effort to make statements that are intelligible : if it is abundant in terms typical of medicine and foreign to colloquial language, neither journalists nor viewers or listeners will be able to understand.
The use of intelligible language when communicating is essential for the message to successfully reach the other end. However, it often happens that the desire to demonstrate his vast knowledge in a given subject leads an individual to express himself in the least decipherable way possible, resulting in a real waste of energy and, in the worst case, the dislike of his poor receiver.
Human beings tend to consider ourselves the center of the Universe itself, but we must never forget that we are just one more species among a potentially infinite number. Since we have the possibility of sharing life with others through oral and written communication , we should take advantage of it by putting the message above all else in any case. Neither self-love nor vanity have a place when it comes to sending someone an idea or a comment. Did we really like a theatrical performance? Well we say it like that, with feeling. Do we want to recommend a book that has been translated into Spanish? Then we use the title in our language, so that our message is intelligible and pleasant.
Intelligible, on the other hand, refers to what can be heard clearly and distinctly : “With a barely intelligible whisper, the woman confessed what she had done,” “In the distance she heard a barely intelligible scream, which she interpreted as a request for help.” help.”
It is necessary to clarify that the term intelligible is not very common in everyday speech. For this reason, we will see below some of its synonyms, among which are certain words that we can hear more often: clear, understandable, affordable, accessible, decipherable, penetrable, legible, simple and easy .
The synonyms listed in the previous paragraph show the various nuances that the meanings of the word intelligible have. Summarizing everything explained so far and relying on the definition offered by the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, we can distinguish three meanings: that it can be understood; that does not require the senses to know it; that can be heard clearly.
For the first case we could use the following synonyms: readable, understandable, easy and simple. For the second: accessible and affordable. Finally, the third meaning is compatible with: clear and decipherable. These are not the only possible combinations, and context plays a very important role when choosing a synonym to replace a term.