Both in rough draft writing and in speech, "first of all" frequently has nothing to do with series or ranking.  As Craig points out, it orients the hearer or reader to the text. For many speakers it's simply a way of saying "Listen!" or "Pay attention!"  This popular usage, of course, conflicts with more formal usage where the phrase is interpreted according to its lexical and grammatical meaning.  This shift in popular usage from lexical meaning to discourse function is a common variety of language change known as grammaticization.

Herb

Herbert F. W. Stahlke, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of English
Ball State University
Muncie, IN  47306
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________________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Hancock [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: April 19, 2009 8:20 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Grammar help: "First of all,..."

Scott,
   It has been called "meta-discourse", discourse about the text as a
text. It orients the reader to the text itself (rather than the
subject.) My problem with "first of all" is that it tends to be used
mechanically.
   I had a handful of students coming out of the same English as a Second
language program in a New York city high school who used the term
"firstable". I thought that was conceptually interesting. Not
everything is able to be first.
   Does being first mean most important? Is it background necessary before
understanding the rest? A preliminary orientation? An arbitrary
starting point? I usually find it productive to ask those questions.

Craig

>


 List,
>
> What would you call and how would you explain "First of all" (and similar
> constructions) as a sentence opener marking the relationship of the
> following sentence with a previous statement?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Scott Woods
>
>
>
>
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