hange of the vowel are
bruk, brung, drap or drapped, drug, friz, roke or ruck (raked), saunt
(sent), shet, shuck (shook), whoped (long _o_). The variant whupped is a
Scotticism. Whope is sometimes used in the present tense, but whup is
more common. By some the vowel of whup is sounded like _oo_ in book (Mr.
Fox writes "whoop," which, I presume, he intends for that sound).

In many cases a weak preterite supplants the proper strong one: div,
driv, fit, gi'n or give, rid, riv, riz, writ, done, run, seen or seed,
blowed, crowed, drawed, growed, knowed, throwed.

There are many corrupt forms of the verb, such as gwine for gone or
going, mought (mowt) for might, dim, het, ort or orter, wed (weeded),
war (was or were--the _a_ as in far), shun (shone), cotch (in all
tenses) or cotched, fotch or fotched, borned, hurted, dremp.

Peculiar adjectives are formed from verbs. "Chair-bottoming is easy
settin'-down work." "When my youngest was a leetle set-along child"
(interpreted as "settin' along the floor"). "That Thunderhead is the
torndowndest place!" "Them's the travellinest hosses ever I seed."
"She's the workinest woman!" "Jim is the disablest one o' the fam'ly."
"Damn this fotch-on kraut that comes in tin cans!"

A verb may serve as an adverb: "If I'd a-been thoughted enough." An
adverb may be used as an adjective: "I hope the folks with you is gaily"
(well). An adjective can serve as an adverb: "He laughed master."
Sometimes a conjunction is employed as a preposition: "We have oblige to
take care on him."

These are not mere blunders of individual illiterates, but usages common
throughout the mountains, and hence real dialect.

The ancient syllabic plural is preserved in beasties (horses), nesties,
posties, trousies (these are not diminutives), and in that strange word
dummerunses that I cited before.

Pleonasms are abundant. "I done done it" (have done it or did do it).
"Durin' the while." "In this day and time." "I thought it would surely,
undoubtedly turn cold." "A small, little bitty hole." "Jane's a
tol'able big, large, fleshy woman." "I ginerally, usually take a dram
mornin's." "These ridges is might' nigh straight up and down, and, as
the feller said, perpendic'lar."

Everywhere in the mountains we hear of biscuit-bread, ham-meat,
rifle-gun, rock-clift, ridin'-critter, cow-brute, man-person,
women-folks, preacher-man, granny-woman and neighbor-people. In this
category belong the famous double-barreled pronoun