While looking for something almost unrelated I came across a few pages relating to the Suzhou dialect that were of some interest. I’ve listed them below in order of nerdiness, greatest to least.

First and of least practical importance, The Lexicon of the Suzhou Dialect in the Ninteenth Century Novel “Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai (Part II) on persee.fr, which is exactly what it sounds like. An excerpt:

Second, a translation from Suzhou Pingtan, a regional form of story telling. In addition to the translation, IPA or something like it has been included. This comes from the personal site of a Ying Huang. He has also includes a very short dictionary. An excerpt from the Pingtan:

Male (singing):
英雄 / 不觉 / 费 / 疑 / 猜
iN joN / b« c« / fi / iZ / tsE
hero / not stop / figure out / question / guess
‘he just could not stop thinking about what had happened’

Finally, the song 简单爱 being sung in Suzhou dialect with accompanying Mandarin characters.

If the video above doesn’t load, click here to go to Youku.