In summer 2023, I ran a UNIQ+ project called The Meaning of ‘Meaningless’ Pronouns, working with Dan Street (University of Glasgow) and Dylan Ryder (Durham University) to uncover the functions of ProTags.

UNIQ+ is the University of Oxford’s flagship graduate access programme. UNIQ+ research internships offer talented UK undergraduate students from under-represented and disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to experience postgraduate study in Oxford’s research community.

The project
The ProTag Construction is an excellent example of how language conveys more than literal meaning. A ProTag is an apparently superfluous pronoun added to a clause, as in That’s good quality, that or I’m a hard worker, me> In each case, the clause would be fully interpretable if the final pronoun were omitted. This project aims to answer the question: Why would any speaker of English use a ProTag? ProTags are not a recent innovation: this construction has been part of the English language for centuries. Previous research has found evidence of ProTag use in the works of Jonson, Marlowe, and Shakespeare. Working with data from the 13th century to the 20th century, you will review examples of ProTag use, identify their functions according to a classification system which is in development, and construct profiles of the characters who use ProTags to determine what factors might influence their occurrence.

The interns and their work
When they joined the project in summer 2023, interns Dan Street (University of Glasgow) and Dylan Ryder (Durham University) were each studying for an undergraduate degree in English Literature. To this Linguistics project, they brought their knowledge of English literature and historical varieties of English, and close reading skills. These were essential as our primary aim was to classify the functions of ProTags by considering them in context. This involved Dan and Dylan reading around each example of the ProTag construction to determine commonalities.

Dylan on the project and the UNIQ+ experience

The linguistics project I worked on aimed to investigate the meaning of meaningless pronouns, in the form of ProTags, which are additional pronouns that have no apparent meaning. For example, ‘Tis good tobacco this. Although initially aimed at both the functional and sociolinguistic factors of ProTags, the project was narrowed to focus on the functional side of the construct. As the project progressed, we noticed the frequent occurrence of ProTags in asides and first lines of plays, which was particularly interesting in terms of dramatic and formal value. This suggested, alongside the varied subjective and intersubjective use of ProTags, that they are used to build bonds and relationships between speakers and audiences, even playing an important role in meta-theatre. While asides in plays may separate a character from the rest of those on stage, they also unite the audience with the opinions of both themselves and the playwright.

During the project, I learned valuable presentation skills, and the importance of confidence. Although outwardly the university appears to stand on the pillars of intelligence, creativity, and hard work, inwardly it is about people connecting with people, which itself is sparked by confidence. Although such inward workings have often been exclusionary and elitist, working as an intern has unveiled the more positive aspects of the university and postgraduate life in general. From the friendliness of the other interns, to the generosity of the colleges, there is ample evidence of a developing attitude towards those who otherwise would be considered (and therefore even would consider themselves) “not the Oxford type”. Alongside the generous help of my supervisor, this has given me confidence in applying for postgraduate study, while my time in Oxford has enriched my love of literature and learning.

Dan on the project and the UNIQ+ experience

The initial aims of our project were to uncover the meaning of meaningless pronouns. ProTags are a linguistic construction that is superfluous to an utterance – it comes after the verb and therefore the phrase would make grammatical sense without the use of a ProTag – yet these constructions have been used from the late sixteenth century to the present to convey something that other constructions seem to miss. Our task was to uncover what this meaning was by close reading over 1,000 entries from the Chadwyck–Healey English Drama database on ProQuest, ascertaining the functions of the ProTags which had been split into seven different categories of meaning.

The categories for the demonstratives were: acknowledging an addressee or response, attitudinal, challenging positive face, conversational joking, demanding an answer, giving advice, or questioning. We identified each entry in the ProQuest online resource. We then close read around the ProTag to ascertain its function within the given text. This could occasionally be quite time consuming, especially if the text was before the English language had undergone its process of standardisation, but we managed to finish the demonstrative functions by the project deadline, also categorising each text for text type and genre.

Our results neatly aligned with Louise’s previous research into ProTags. She had previously written a paper on Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare’s use of ProTags and our findings were similar in that the ProTag is overwhelmingly an attitudinal construction – it is used to convey an opinion or to state a fact, such as: ’Tis good tobacco this!. There were other interesting elements that we uncovered too, such as the ProTag often being used within an aside to the audience, meta-theatrically breaking the fourth wall and narrowing the distance between character and audience. This is striking as it highlights the intersubjectivity of ProTag use. The construction shows that communication is more than just words on the page – it is also about things one would not usually write. Even today, in my dialect of Northern English I find myself a heavy ProTag user and so I was excited by this finding.

I learned that I am a confident person who is interested in his peers and their different narratives. It has been a pleasure to meet so many people from all over the UK from so many different walks of life. Communicating with people has always been one of my stronger points – and so it was great to have a cohort of so many different students to talk to. I hope I’ve made some contacts that I will keep for many years to come, both in academia and professionally. Finally, to Louise – her enthusiasm and expertise has been first-class. She has been patient with me yet driven to get the results she wanted. I am hugely grateful and thankful to have been selected for the internship and to have had the opportunity to work with a leading academic for the last six weeks. I hope we meet again!