10.2.2.2. Turn-yielding signals
Eye gaze is a very important marker in a conversation, because it is used to indicate to the dialogue partner that a transition relevance place is present. That is, the sender is expressing that he or she is going to end the turn and that the addressee can take the floor. The example below shows that the sender asks a question without looking at the interlocutor. When the question is ending, the sender starts looking at the addressee to indicate a transition relevance place. When the sender starts gazing the interlocutor in the sentence (+eg in the gloss below), the addressee starts elevating his hands from the rest position to take the turn. This signal occurs at the end of the turn position.
wh
-eg +eg
SIGNER 1: experience feel comparison
SIGNER 2: <hands-rest> ix1 feel
SIGNER 1: ‘How is your experience if you compare them?
SIGNER 2: ‘I feel’
(Moya-Avilés, 2017: 10)
The gaze marker is also used to avoid overlapping as the example below shows. In this case, the sender asks a question to the addressee, and in the middle of the turn position the sender looks at the addressee, who interprets this eye contact as a signal to take the turn in the conversation. Therefore, the addressee starts to elevate his hands from rest position (indicated by angle brackets in the example). However, the sender avoids eye contact again, (-eg in the gloss below), to express that he has not finished yet and that a transition relevance place is not taking place. Hence, the addressee puts his hands in rest position again and waits. In this case, overlapping is avoided thanks to a good regulation of the gaze marker.
wh
fe re
-eg +eg -eg
SIGNER 1: same ix[there], better more spain, less, equal, concret topic
hn
SIGNER 2: <hands-rest> ix <hands-rest>
SIGNER 1: ‘Are the same there, or are better in Spain, or worst? Are they equal? I mean…
SIGNER 2: ‘Yes, about this…’
(Moya-Avilés, 2017: 14)