When the strategic displacement of the main topic of discussion is used as a face-saving technique: Evidence from Jordanian Arabic.

This study aims to demonstrate and analyze the behaviours of two Jordanian persons employing different positive politeness strategies in a face-threatening situation. The discussion explicitly centres on the fact that the directionality of politeness could be realized and encoded in the individuals' linguistic choices. The present paper primarily addresses the strategy of displacing the main topic of discussion on the part of Jordanian interlocutors exhibiting a positive politeness direction, in an apology-calling situation, as a way to protect the speaker's face. The discussion is based on the analysis of an exchange between two acquaintances of mine. The main point raised is that though the two neighbours are displaying politeness behaviours that may appear to be in tension -- with one considering his addressee's as well as his own face (neighbour 1) and the other being primarily concerned with his own face (neighbour 2) through his disinclination to get involved in a lengthy conversation and through the displacement of the main topic of discussion -- the two neighbours' behaviours are nevertheless orienting to an over-arching relational goal of maintaining the relationship. This is also to suggest that intracultural differences should be addressed before moving on to discuss cross-cultural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]