I have encountered a number of passages with 〜けん in 佐賀のがばいばあちゃん. I'm not quite sure what it means exactly. I've seen instances where it appears to mean から and others where it appears to mean けど. I'm not sure if my interpretation is correct or not.
The following are some examples.
「そりゃ行きたいけん、お金がなかと」
p. 94, ch. 7
"I want to go [there] but I don't have any money"?
けん=けど？
「明日から、昭広がごはんをたくんやけん、よう見ときんしゃい」
p. 28, ch. 2
"From tomorrow you'll be cooking your own meals, so watch carefully"?
やけん=だから
「先生、すいません。あれは伊勢エビじゃなくてザリガニです。私がこの子に、伊勢エビて言うてたけん.....」
p. 57, ch. 4
"I'm sorry, sir. Actually, it wasn't spiny lobster; it was crayfish. I told this boy it was spiny lobster, though..."?
けん=けど？
If someone could clarify the meaning of けん, that would be very helpful. Thanks!
Answer
けん and its variants are widely used in the western/southern parts of Japan including Kyushu. I grew up in an area in Shikoku where けん only meant "～から (because)". Your last two examples look easy and straightforward to me because these けん obviously mean "because".
- 明日から、昭広がごはんをたくんやけん、よう見ときんしゃい。
Akihiro, because you're going to cook rice from tomorrow, you must watch carefully.- 私がこの子に、伊勢エビて言うてたけん...
Coz I was telling him it's an 伊勢エビ...
However I was not familiar with the usage of けん in your first example, where けん seems to mean "although".
- そりゃ行きたいけん、お金がなかと。
Of course I want to go, but I have no money.
I've found articles that say at least in 宮崎弁, けん is used similarly to ～けど (source 1, source 2).
はらへったけん めしがねえわ
例訳：「腹減ったけどごはんがないわ」
佐賀 is not far away from 宮崎, so けん may also mean けど in 佐賀弁.
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