Description:... excellent example... significant contribution... an important interdisciplinary work... —Middle East Journal"... an important contribution to aspects of Iranian social communication and interpersonal verbal behavior." —LanguageBy showing the reader the intricacies of face-to-face sociolinguistic interaction, William Beeman provides a key to understanding Iranian social and political life. Beeman's study in cross-cultural linguistics will clearly be a model for the study of different languages and cultures.