riz
Rose; the old past tense of rise.
Updated September 24, 2026
riz pronunciation
/riz/
Meaning
Mountain and rural Southern talk for rose. The sun riz. Bread riz in the pan. Folks riz up from the table. Horace Kephart listed riz with other Appalachian verb forms like writ and driv that keep an older strong-verb pattern school English dropped.
How folks use it
- “The sun riz before we got the cows in.”
- “That dough riz overnight and climbed right out of the bowl.”
Origin and etymology
An older English past tense of rise that hung on in Southern Appalachian speech. Dictionary of Southern Appalachian English cites it from the mid-1800s onward. Kephart noted riz among mountain preterites that replace the "proper" strong forms. You still hear it from older speakers and in storytelling.
Frequently asked questions
Is riz the same as risen?
Close kin. Riz usually fills in for rose ("the sun riz"). Risen is the have/has form in school English ("the sun has risen").