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The following sentence occurs in The Legend of Zelda:

ナンカ　コウテ　クレヤ

(This would be なんか買うてくれや！ and was famously translated as "Buy somethin', will ya!".) From the 買うて, it's obvious he's speaking Kansai-ben, and I suspect that this usage of や is Kansai-ben as well. (I know that や is used instead of だ in Kansai-ben, but this is obviously a different usage.) But what does it mean? Does it indicate some sort of insistence?

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  • 3
    Somebody changed the title of the question to, "is や instead of だ Kansai-ben?". I'm changing it back because that is NOT what I asked. Yes, や in place of だ is Kansai-ben. I know that. I am asking about a usage of や that appears to be Kansai-ben and IS NOT a substitute for だ.
    – Kef Schecter
    Commented Oct 18, 2012 at 12:40
  • +1 for referencing LoZ.
    – istrasci
    Commented Oct 18, 2012 at 14:27
  • Why would it be こう instead of かう?
    – ヤラユギ
    Commented Sep 5, 2018 at 20:24
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    @ヤラユギ Because こうて is the te form of かう in Kansai-ben. "au" had shifted to "ou". You also see this in words like おはよう (which was originally Kansai-ben), from はやい (early/fast); the process went something like はやく -> はやう -> はよう, while Standard Japanese still uses (はやく outside of the formulaic greeting おはよう).
    – Kef Schecter
    Commented Sep 11, 2018 at 22:08

2 Answers 2

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This actually most likely Oosaka-ben's variation of 「や」as「よ」, becoming something like:

なんか買ってくれよ！

The usage is explained in more detail here:

http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%82%84?dictCode=OSAKA (Japanese)

EDIT

The original quote from the just in case site downtime happens:

「ある」が転じた「やる」の命令形「やれ」の略。言葉の終わりに付けることで、命令敬語や連用形命令語などをやわらげる働きがある。「よ」のように相手をなじる意味は含まれていない。ハンカチ忘れんと行きや、ほかしとくんなはれや、持っておいでや、など。命令形命令語などのあとにつくと乱暴な印象を持つ。持って来いや、はよせんかいや、いてもうたれや、など。

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In Kansaiben, や replaces だ and よ

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  • That is why you never hear なんちゃらやよ right ?
    – oldergod
    Commented Sep 24, 2012 at 2:42

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