A general observation in studies of spoken interaction is that speakers orient toward a one-at-a-time principle when taking turns at talk, and do so at a surprisingly fast pace across a wide range of spoken languages. Comparative research has shown that speakers from a broad range of typologically and geographically dispersed languages vary little in response latencies in question–answer sequences, with mean overall offsets at 229 ms, and language-specific means within 250 ms on either side of this cross-language mean ( Stivers et al., 2009). Spontaneous conversations among speakers often run smoothly with slight overlaps and gaps between consecutive turns ( Sacks et al., 1974). This suggests that turn-taking systems may well be a shared cognitive infrastructure underlying all modern human languages, both spoken and signed. This is consistent with the possibility that, at least with regard to responses to questions, speakers and signers follow similar time courses in planning and producing their utterances in on-going conversation. The findings indicate that although there is considerable overlap in two or more signers’ articulators in conversation, when proper allowance is made for onset preparation, post-utterance retraction and the intentional holding of signs for response, turn-taking latencies in sign look remarkably like those reported for spoken language.

To address this question we look at turn-timing in question–answer sequences in spontaneous conversations of Sign Language of the Netherlands. Alternatively, signed conversations may show a similar distribution of turn-timing as spoken languages, thus avoiding both gaps and overlaps. If so, turn-taking in sign might show greater toleration for overlap. The avoidance of overlapping turns could be motivated by the difficulty of hearing and speaking at the same time. The question remains, however, to what extent our capacity for rapid turn-taking is determined by modality constraints. These observations suggest that the turn-taking system may provide a fundamental basis for our linguistic capacities. Cross-linguistic comparison has indicated that spoken languages vary only minimally in terms of turn-timing, and language acquisition research has shown pre-linguistic vocal turn-taking in the first half year of life.

In spoken interactions, interlocutors carefully plan, and time their utterances, minimizing gaps and overlaps between consecutive turns.

2Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands.

1Language and Cognition Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, Netherlands.

Connie de Vos 1*, Francisco Torreira 1 and Stephen C.

A Final Stroke by Daniel May