Atkinson — Two Inflexional Forms of the Verb in Irish. 417 
The usual teaching on the subject of the so-called consuetu- 
dinal present tense in Irish is quite wrong ; but, fortunately, 
the means of illustrating and correcting the errors are in our 
hands. But before any step is taken, the student must make it 
his duty to attain to a clear understanding of the function of 
the ending -xsnri, viz. enclitic^ because nearly all the modern 
abuses in the verbal system are connected with the ignoring 
of the principle involved in that term. 
By enclitic, then, is meant the form that the verb assumes 
when it is used in immediate connexion with the negatives 
ni, ri^c, the interrogative the particle 50, or the relative 
governed by a preposition [also including "oa and later niA]. 
This presents no difficulty to an Irish- speaking native ; his 
own commonly used verbal system will show it to him at once 
in the use of the irregular verbs. He will say : — 
AUA (fe), but m' ftiiL (-pe), 50 bftiii, An bpii, &c. ; 
(-pe), but m' jXAit), 50 iaaiId. 
Very well : the forms fuit and are enclitic forms. 
Now, the first point to which I call attention is the fact 
that the so-called consuetiidinal present is neither more nor less 
than an enclitic form ; it does not serve to express one iota 
of habit or custom, or anything else whatever than this enclitic 
position. 
In other words we must say : ni iriolxivrin (-pe), n^c i-nolA.riri, 
50 mot Ann, ah molAnn, &c. ; and we must not use it save in 
this enclitic position, and that, too, only in the singular 2nd and 
drd pers. 
That is the usage in Irish proper ; and any other usage is 
mQ\:Q patois. Thus, it is sometimes said that cotrintiigeArin i^e 
is the equivalent of an Anglo-Irishism, ' he does he living.^ 
They are both equally wrong : the fact of the common usage of 
them does not make them correct. And in fact the use of 
cotrinuigeAnn me, I does he living, 
cotiiriuigeAnn pAt), they does be living, 
is quite on a par as to grammatical concord. 
