Raising the hands from rest position to the signing space is a turn-taking signal. In the same way, lowering the hands from signing space to rest position indicates to the dialogue partner that the turn-taking is ending. These two turn-taking signals are used by the dialogue partners to take the turn and to indicate to the other person when a turn starts or ends.
The example below shows that at the moment the interviewed finishes his answer to a previous question, he starts putting his hands at rest. After that, the interviewer understands that as a turn-end signal and starts his turn with a new question without overlapping.
<hands-low>
smile
+eg
SIGNER 1:ix3pl not, different, acquaintances more ix3pl different
SIGNER 2: <hands-rest> <hands-raise> ix2
SIGNER 1: ‘No, with them is different, they are like acquaintances, with them is different’
SIGNER 2: ‘You…’
(Moya-Avilés, 2017: 11)
Another turn-taking signal in LSC includes the sender holding their hands in a specific sign, concretely the last lexical unit of the utterance, to indicate to the other dialogue partner that he or she is not willing to sign more. In the example below the sender holds the second person pronominal sign (IX2) sign to indicate to the interlocutor that a transition relevance place is taking place and therefore he can take the turn. After a few seconds, the addressee starts his turn in the conversation.
y/n
re
+eg
SIGNER 1: already together ix2-hold
sq
SIGNER 2: <hands-rest> not-yet
SIGNER 1: ‘Have you already been together?’
SIGNER 2: ‘Not yet’
(Moya-Avilés, 2017: 13)
The above examples show that the eye gaze, raising or lowering the hands, and holding the last sign of the utterance are transition relevance place markers and turn-taking regulators in LSC spontaneous conversation.