Questione di "faccia". Locuzioni italiane e siciliane, tra vergogna e dignità

In any pragmatic-dialogic context, the 'face' plays a central role, and in some cases, it is concretely visible when considering the various communicative strategies implemented to protect its integrity, which coincides with the personal dignity of the individual. Long before pragmalinguistics developed the scientific concept of 'face' and the interactional construct of 'facework', a similar sense was clearly developed in the metaphorization of common linguistic expressions: indeed, both Italian and Sicilian have many expressions built around the noun 'faccia/facci'. In oral communication strategies, the threat to everyone's 'positive face' is lexicalized through metaphorical uses, and not only, of the word 'faccia', generating idioms, clichés, and proverbs that involve the assertion of one's personal image. «Saving face», more than a linguistic fact, is a social necessity.