《石頭記》脂硯齋評語，從詞彙到語法都具有吳語特徵。他還能看出諧音字的含義，又用吳語標音。因北方讀者不了解吳語特徵，就將一些自己覺得生疏的或者彆扭的詞語，認為「總歸是金陵話」，因此不予深究。其實金陵話揚州話都是北方話的一支，語言學者稱之為「江淮語系」或「江淮官話」，它們與吳語是兩個系統，有很大差別。除了詞彙及語法上的不同，還有語音聲調上的區分，根本不能視為一體。加之還有某些很好理解的北方話詞語與被納入吳地方言後，就自行改變了原來的詞性和意義，發生了質的變化，滋生出新的概念。作者為什麼要精心安排那麼多吳語？因此值得重視對吳語的研究。筆者從甲戌本、庚辰本《石頭記》書中選取有關蘇州方言的詞彙，在文本及脂評中使用的情況及其意義，期能真正認識和欣賞《石頭記》，進而了解其意蘊與情味。
From specific words to phases to grammar, all contains Wu Dialect. The author uses not only hidden meaning in trying to get her point across; but also signed the sound with the Wu Dialect. There are certain vocabularies and phrases that the readers from the North do not understand because the Wu Dialect is unknown to them. Because of this, the readers used the language called “Jinling Dialect” to help them decipher the meaning of specific phrases and words. They did not want to find out the differences between the Wu Dialect and “Jinling Dialect” so that they could understand the book better. Actually “Jinling Dialect” and “Yangchow Dialect” are both types of Northern dialects. A scholar renamed the two dialects as Jiang Huai Dialects or Jiang Huai Mandarin. They have many differences from the Wu Dialect. Some differences are the words, grammar, and pronunciations. With these differences, you cannot treat these systems as the same one. Several Beijing dialects have been converted to Wu Dialects which automatically change the meaning and quality of the writing. Why does the author of “The Story of the Stone: Chih Yen's Review Version” care so much the Wu Dialect in the book? In order to answer this question, you will have to research youself about this. I selected the vocabularies regarding the Soochow Dialect from the following two versions of “The Story of the Stone”: “Chia Hsu Version”, “Geng Cheng Version”. In this text and Chih Yen's review, the meaning and the situation expects to help the reader really understand and enjoy The Story of the Stone. In order to enjoy this book, you have to try to understand the author's meaning and emotions.
