連城客家話屬於汀州片客家話的中片，縣內語音極為複雜，在歷史與地域因素的交織下，孕育出連城客家話「五里不同音，十里不同調」的特色，李如龍教授將連城客家話譽為「方言寶庫」，其音韻層次豐富多源，有存古也有創新，有底層亦有周邊方言接觸成分，堪稱是內部差異性最大的客家話，極富研究價值。連城客家話具有許多其他地區客家話所沒有的特色，例如：-e元音低化為-a，以及-a→-o的變化，都與漢語史及漢語方言的發展趨勢截然不同，這是造成連城客家話與廣東系統客家話差異大的關鍵性音變，再如咸攝、山攝一等讀-o元音，這是大多數客家話少有的存古音讀。連城客家話的語言現象豐富，在特殊音變形式與規律、閩客語言接觸的語言變遷現象、底層語的留存與演變、歷史與地域因素對語言發展的影響、類型學上的區域特徵等議題上都提供了豐富的研究素材。筆者已完成連城客家話六小片的十個方言點的語言調查，每個方言點大約2500個字音、1500條詞彙、150句語法例句的語料收集，本專書寫作計畫將依上述研究議題，透過連城客家話橫向的方言比較，揭開該地區客家話的神秘面紗，提供學界對連城客家話的發展脈絡有整體全貌的了解。 ;Liancheng Hakka dialect is spoken in the middle of Tingzhou area. Influenced by a string of historical and geographical factors, their pronunciation is so complex that dialects vary from one village to another. Professor Li Rulong rates Liancheng Hakka dialect as a "dialect treasure house", given its diversified phonological levels, co-existence of preservation and innovation, and blend of dialects spoken by the bottom of the society and those of surrounding regions. Thus, Liancheng Hakka dialect is one of the Hakka dialects with the greatest internal differences that deserve in-depth research. Liancheng Hakka dialect has many characteristics absent in other Hakka dialects. For example, the changes of vowel -e to -a and from -a to -o are totally different from the development trend of Chinese and Chinese dialects. This is the key phonetic change that causes the great difference between Liancheng Hakka dialect and Guangdong Hakka dialect. The vowel of - o preserved in Xianshe and Shanshe is rare in most Hakka dialects. Liancheng Hakka dialect has diversified linguistic features, providing abundant materials on a bunch of topics, such as special phonetic forms and rules, linguistic changes in Fujian-Hakka language contacts, preservation and evolution of vulgar languages, influence of historical and regional factors on language development, and regional characteristics of typology. The author has collected materials including the phonetics, vocabulary, grammar and phrases in eleven dialect spot of sixth regions in which Liancheng Hakka dialect is spoken. Based on the above-mentioned research topics and through the horizontal dialect comparison of Liancheng Hakka dialects, this project will uncover the mysterious veil of Hakka dialect in Liancheng and provide the academia with a comprehensive understanding of the development of such dialect.
