Ethno-semantics of " Face" (Āberū) Cultural Pattern: The Meanings, Samples and Functions

Understanding people and their social relationships require an understanding of culture in general and cultural elements in particular. Therefore in this article an important concept is taken from Iranian culture and its different meanings were investigated. The concept chosen is “Āberū” which roughly means “face”. It is used as a justification for many behaviors and social relationships in Iran. Yet not many are capable of defining it. For this reason, the present project is undertaken to decipher the meanings of the term hidden in the everyday cliché. The fieldwork revealed the following three different meanings of the term:A: Category “hefz-e Āberū” roughly means “keeping the face” that indicates compliance with norms of the society;B: Category “kasb-e Āberū” roughly means “gaining the face” that indicates gaining the social approval and being accepted.C: Category “Āberūmandi” roughly means “having the face” that indicates “having principle” and eing a man of integrity and morality.Instances have been taken from the interviews and other observations that were used to demonstrate the concept of Āberū in its three different meanings. In addition, the theoretical and socio-cultural implications of the findings are discussed in the paper.