Person deixis indicates the system of expressing the first person, the second person and the third person. It is linguistically realized in Japanese by various forms such as first names, surnames, personal pronouns and demonstratives. There is a tendency that previous studies explore the factors which have an influence on the selection of one from various forms of person deixis, presupposing that a single basic form is always used by the same interlocutor. However, it can be assumed that the speaker does not necessarily start to employ a specific term to call the addressee as soon as they become acquainted, and that it takes the interlocutor a certain amount of time to find appropriate forms as address and reference terms. This study aims to highlight the dynamics underlying person deixis in the process of fixation and to deal with how the interlocutor chooses a basic form.

This study employs participant observation to gain access to data. The author spent some time observing 31 members of a family who live in Wakayama-ken and recorded their conversation in August and December, 2002 and January, 2003. This study focuses on 2 informants out of 31 as these two people are new members of the target family. The recorded data can allow us to examine what kind of linguistic forms are used as the norms of address and reference among various members of the family.

The detailed investigation of the recorded data has revealed that some informants including the two informants, Kota and Takaaki are in the process of selecting an appropriate term and trying the possible forms. Although Kota and Takaaki have membership in the family, they have had very few contacts with other members so far. Consequently, they do not know how to call and refer to other members of the family. Takaaki, in particular, uses various forms as terms of address and reference while he is talking with his nephews and niece in law. This means that he is finding a certain form which other members will accept.

This progression toward the fixation of forms can be analyzed in a framework of Speech Accommodation Theory proposed by Giles and Powesland (1975) and Thakerar et al. (1982). This theory claims that speakers tend to adjust their speech toward that of their addressees in order to win their approval. Since Kota, a 6-yearold boy is not old enough to accommodate his usage to the norms used among the family, the members around him try to identify his usage of terms and to use the same form as his. On the other hand, Takaaki himself tries to imitate linguistic norms of deixis in the family. As long as the choice of a term is recognized as normal for a family, the speaker can be considered to be the member. The present study has clarified that new members tend to adjust their forms of address and reference to those of other members so that they can be integrated in the family.