Atkinson — Two Inflexional Forms of the Verb in Irish. 429 
Before treating of tlie special rules of this form, it will be 
well to premise one or two general observations. The device by 
which prominence is given to any notion in a sentence, viz. by 
placing it in an introductory clause after the assertive verb, in- 
volves the constant use of the relative form of the verb to express 
this subordination. Thus 'he praises his father for this' would 
be, when emphatically put, ' it is for this that he praises his 
father,' if tntne pn liiol^-p ^ AUxM-p. This I call the subordi- 
nate clause. Further, in the simple relative clause when the 
relative is not governed by a preposition, the [understood] 
relative must express either a nominative or an accusative ; and 
here, as we shall see, a sharp distinction is made in the use of 
this form in -^f , Take, e. gr. : — 
[I.] The man who-praises him, | The men who-praise him, 
AH feAfv iriotAf e. | riA -pip -molAf e. 
These I call «(^Ao-clauses. 
[II.] {a) The man whom he praises, I {a) The men whom he praises, 
An -peA^ tfiolAf fe. I riA -moLAf \e. 
{b) The man whom they praise, j {b) The men whom they praise, 
An |:eA|\ iriotAi'o pAt). I nA -piix triotAit) y\6X>. 
These I call ^^^Aom- clauses for convenience, even in cases 
where the relative refers to inanimate objects, where in English 
' whom ' could not be used. 
The subordinate clause may be exemplified as above : — 
[III.] It is for that reason that he praises. tiinie pn triolAf fe. 
The subordinate-clsiuse comes after nouns of time used as 
temporal conjunctions; thus ^ when they die' is rendered '[at] 
the time that they die; now, as the siibordinate-clsiUSQ follows the 
law of the whom-clsiuse, the -^f ending cannot here be used 
with, plural : we have to write :— - 
Keating, 27, 24, An uah eAjAit) ; while An CAn eA^Af can only mean ' when 
he dies,' 19, 22. 
The ground being thus cleared, we may proceed to the con- 
sideration of the practical treatment of the relative clause in 
