The following is the analytic form of the present tense of mol:—
| SINGULAR. | PLURAL. |
| molaim, I praise. | molann sinn, we praise. |
| molann tú, thou praisest. | molann siḃ, you praise. |
| molann sé, he praises. | molann siad, they praise |
The analytic form is used in all the tenses, but in some of the tenses it is rarely, if ever, found in some of the persons: for instance, it is not found in the first person singular above. As the analytic form presents no difficulty, it will not be given in the regular table of conjugations.
251. We are indebted to the Rev. Peter O’Leary, P.P., for the following explanation of the Autonomous Form of conjugation:—
“This third form—the Autonomous—has every one of the moods and tenses, but in each tense it has only one person, and that person is only implied. It is really a personality, but it is not a specific personality. It is only a general, undefined personality.
“This third form of an Irish verb has some very unique powers…. I shall illustrate one. An English verb cannot of itself make complete sense alone; this form of an Irish verb can. For instance, ‘Buailtear’ is a complete sentence. It means, ‘A beating is being administered,’ or, ‘Somebody is striking.’ Irish grammarians have imagined that this
