What does the long "neeeeee" (ねー) mean when 2 friends are talking?


What does "neeeeee" (ねー) mean when 2 friends are talking? That is, one is
talking, talking, talking and the other will occasionally reply "neeeeee" to
him? Is this just the ordinary "so da ne" or does it have another connotation
in this case?




This sounds like it is related to the sentence ending particle ね。This
particle, as you probably well know means something like: `isn't it, right?!,`
however sometimes it will be translated into English as an emphasizer, or an
explanation point.

Examples:

> そうですね。(You're right! OR That's correct!)
>
> 今日あついね。(It's hot today, isn't it?)

Don't confuse this with the よ particle. There is a distinct difference between
the two, even if they occasionally crop up in similar circumstances. You can
read more about the ね particle
[here](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/japanese-particle-ne/).

So, when we extend the ね to be ねー or ねーー、 I would say that an English
equivalent would be extending `right?!` to `riiiiight?!` In other
circumstances where `right` won't work as a translation, just realize that the
speaker is emphasizing something more.

Example:

> あのね、私はね、デートよ！今晩。(Yeah, _I_ have a date! It's tonight.)
>
> あのねー、私はねー、デートよ！今晩。(Hey, get this, _This girl_ has a date. It's tonight.)

I think this example is pretty feminine though.

Lastly, ねーー on its own is pretty much a replacement for そうですね, as the other
answers have explained.




Elongated ねー (pronounced "neeh" rather than "knee") is simply a word of
agreement, "Yeah." or "You can say that." It's relatively mild or feminine.
そうだね can mean the same thing, but it often means something slightly different,
"That's right" or "That's correct."

