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Saw this in a children's book: 「見つけたのは だーれ？」 Is this essentially the same as
「だれ」?
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2018-03-18T22:45:49.283
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2021-10-09T16:04:02.193
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words
Does だーれ mean the same as だれ?
This kind of thing can be used to make words more emphatic, as to simulate how
one might pronounce the word in informal speech. The meaning itself doesn't
change.

You might see the same thing in English. (`Whoooo is it?`/ `Noooooo!`/
`Suuuure.`)
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2018-03-18T23:10:41.283
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2018-03-18T23:10:41.283
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Yes, 「だーれ」 means the same thing as 「だれ」. The important questions, however, are
"when" and "with whom" we say 「だーれ」 rather than 「だれ」.

When talking to babies and toddlers, we tend to elongate the first syllables
in question words _**if the question words are placed at the END of
sentences**_.

If you do not follow this, you _might possibly_ end up looking slightly cold
or uninterested to the toddler, but if you ever do it with an adult or a kid
over 7 or 8, you will look incredibly weird.

So, we say:

・なーに/なあに

・どーこ/どおこ

・どーれ/どおれ

・なーぜ/なあぜ

・いーつ/いいつ

, etc.

Thus, native speakers tend to say to toddlers:

「クマさんは **どこ** にいますか？」 ← No elongation

「 **どこ** にクマさんはいますか？」 ← No elongation

「クマさんがいるのは **どおこ** だ？」 ← **Elongation**

To use your example sentence,

「 **だれ** が見つけたの？」 ← No elongation

「見つけたのは **だーれ** ？」 ← **Elongation**

Rhythm, intonation, syllable lengths, etc., though they are rarely discussed
here for obvious reasons, are of utmost importance in Japanese.
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2018-03-19T00:41:23.863
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It's used to make the speaker more childish or cuter. Used a lot when someone
closes the eyes of his friend and making him guess who is it.
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2018-03-21T22:43:25.130
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2018-03-21T22:43:25.130
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