adding んー to the end of a phrase (e.g. いつ帰ってくるんー？)

Question

A friend recently texted me 'いつ帰ってくるんー？'. I understand the question, but I don't understand why んー would be added to the end of the verb. Is this to add emphasis or emotional context?

Answer 1

「いつ帰{かえ}ってくるんー？」

「ん」＝「の」

Around Kansai, it is common to end a question with a 「ん」 in colloquial speech. The 「ー」 should be for emphasis as you said.

Thus, a more "Standard" way to say the same thing would be:

「いつ帰ってくるの～？」

Kansai ladies have asked me questions such as:

「うちのこと、ホンマに好{す}きなん？」 "Do you really like me?"

「最近{さいきん}めっちゃ回答{かいとう}したはるけど、ヒマなん？」 "You've been answering a lotta questions lately. Are you bored silly?"

Disclaimer: If your friend is not from around Kansai, please ignore this answer. I would have no idea what 「んー」 meant, then, in his/her dialect. It is always helpful to tell us where the speaker is from when asking these questions.