A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

ix₁ vote ix_3pl no_more yes          know++The third type of turn taking concerns those situations in which two or more signers communicate simultaneously and overlap each other. There are various possible reasons for such overlapping behaviour. It can happen, for example, when two signers both contribute to a dialogue resulting in a joined turn construction, as in the example below.

         A:           finally work finish ix₂ relax       ix₂ relax                                                     ix₂ year^five document how                                  yes          know++

         B:                                  ix₁ retirement ix₁ know   ix₁ slide five ix₁ finally ix₁ go_out young                   before        ix_{1 1}explain₂ ix_{1 2}come₁ house poss₁

         ‘Finally you stopped working, now you can relax!’ ‘I am retired, I know, thanks to the policy of the “5-year slide”. Finally! I retired earlier and I’m still young.’ ‘How did you sort out the papers for the 5 years?’ ‘I will explain it to you at my place’. ‘Yes, that’s fine.’

A different situation arises when the two signers compete for taking the turn. An example of such competitive dialogical construction is presented below.

         A:           q_artichoke politics^area ix₁ trust zero      ix₁ be_fed_up                        ix₁ vote ix_3pl no_more                                       

         B:                                                              ix₁ be_fed_up suck ix₁ true better vote need exist.not      but ix₁ need law hundred^four q_artichoke

         A:           q_artichoke              c’mon exist exist.not ix₁ impossible_no_way

         B:                       q_artichoke never approve               pe

         ‘I’ve no trust in politicians!’ ‘I’m fed up! It sucks!’ ‘I’m fed up!’ ‘Well, it’s better not to vote.’ ‘I don’t vote for them anymore!’ ‘But I need the law 104, so when?’ ‘When?!’ ‘When? It will never be approved!’ ‘C’mon, no way!’  

Regardless of the reason for the overlapping turn taking, the general model for this type of dialogue is reported below.

         A:        sign sign sign

         B:              sign sign sign