Is this the way English is going as a "living language"?

[Caracal]

Not my area, but I was listening to something the other day that reminded me that a lot of old English poetry starts with "Hwaet, which apparently is best understood as "so" in the sense of "hey, listen up. Essentially it was being used as a preposition.

A preposition? I'm not sure how it would be a preposition, even apart from the fact that it doesn't have an object. I would classify it as an exclamation. I've always thought the most accurate equivalent in modern English is "Yo!"

I suppose that's right. I thought of it because it is somewhat similar in the sense that it is being used to create a sense of flow. I guess maybe the better example is the way older translations of the Bible often start a sentence with "and." Written formal English can become very clipped. If its true that starting sentences with prepositions is becoming more common, I assume its because it breaks up prose and avoids clipped short sentences without the need for a long dense sentence with a lot of clauses. As long as its clear what the so refers to, it shouldn't cause problems with clarity.

Do you mean conjunctions? Words like 'so', 'and', 'but', etc., which introduce clauses? Starting sentences with conjunctions can create a sense of flow, sure. Prepositions are words like 'in', 'on', and 'through', and introduce noun phrases, so they can't really do anything about the flow between clauses. I certainly haven't noticed any trend of starting sentences with prepositions in the way you describe.

Yes, sorry. Parts of speech are one of those things I constantly get mixed up

[little bongo]

For some unfortunate reasons, I've become familiar with the legal use of beginning sentences with "And," as in "And now...." followed by a legal ruling or decision.