in
reality but one conjugation. The old Irish verb system comprises
present and imperfect indicative, imperative, pres. subjunctive in
-a-or -s- with corresponding past subjunctive, future in -f- or -s- or
-e- or with reduplication along with corresponding secondary future,
-s- preterite, -t- preterite, reduplicated preterite, a preterite
containing a long stem-vowel, together with deponential and passive
forms in -rd. This system is eked out with the verbal prefix ro, which
among other functions changes a preterite into a perfect or a present
into a perfect. Such a cumbrous system was bound to fall to pieces. A
number of isolated forms have come down, but the only tenses which
have survived into the modern period are the present and imperfect
indicative, the imperative, the present subjunctive, the -s-
preterite, the -b- and -e- future with corresponding secondary forms,
and some of the passive forms in -r. At the same time in the modern
language there is an increasing tendency to use analytical forms. Two
noteworthy features of the Irish verb remain to be mentioned. The one
is the use of pronouns as objects infixed between particle and verb,
or in a verb compounded with a preposition between preposition and
verb. There are two sets of forms according as to whether the verb
occurs in a relative clause or not. Thus -m- is the ordinary infixed
pronoun of the 1st pers. sing., whilst -dom- is the corresponding
relative form. In the 3rd pers. sing. aspiration may be employed, e.g.
_ni ceil_, "he does not hide," _ni cheil_, "he does not hide it." This
has been given up in the modern language. Secondly in verbs compounded
with prepositions the accent of the verb varies according as to
whether the verb is used enclitically or not--thus after the negative
ni or in the infinitive and imperative. Hence we have _do-beir_, "he
gives," by the side of _ni tabair_, "he does not give," infin.
_tabairt_; _do-gniu_, "I do," _ni denim_, "I do not do," infin.
_denum_. The changes caused by this alternation in addition to others
due to the working of the Irish accent and to the initial and internal
mutations have played havoc with the verb system and render it
exceedingly difficult to reconstruct the paradigms. In the later
periods of the language analogy naturally plays a great part, and many
of the complicated forms are done away with, but even in the modern
dialects