AMBIGUITY IN SPOUSAL INTERACTIONS

Language is a vehicle by means of which we effect communication. Communication can only be established when both the speaker and the listener have the same understanding of the words and sentences used in conversation. Consequently, this paper investigates ambiguity in the conversation of selected Nigerian couples in order to determine the effect of ambiguity in the interpretation of meaning in the conversations of such couples. It also examines how ambiguity impedes meaning negotiation in spousal interactions. This was achieved by purposively selecting data collected from the conversations of couples who are educated. These data were analyzed based on the constructivist model of communication. The analysis reveals that the ambiguity present in these situations results from the inability of the decoding spouse to effectively determine the encoding spouse's intended meaning, barring contextual communicative features. This study, therefore, concludes that ambiguity indeed .affects the interpretation of meaning in spousal interactions and greatly influences meaning negotiation which has capacity for spiking domestic tensions in marital relationship.