plains, field, rustic, civilian life
野 centers on open, untamed land: plains and fields, and by extension the rustic, non-urban life of civilians away from officialdom.
baseball
field; sphere; realm; division; branch
vegetable
guy; fellow; chap; buddy
field; plain
large field
wild
plain; open field
opposition party; the opposition
field of vision; view
outdoors; outside; open air
wild beast; wild animal; brute
resigning from (public) office
outfield
wasteland; wilderness; deserted land; prairie; vast plain; wilds; desert; wild land
infield; diamond
ambition; aspiration
ambition; aspiration
savage; barbarous; barbaric; uncivilized; uncivilised
field; plain; prairie; moor
pasture land; ranch
pasturing (e.g. cattle); letting (an animal) run loose
wild bird
in the middle of a field
野 combines 里 (village, ri) and 予 (a phonetic element). The character originally referred to land outside the village, i.e., fields or plains.
The left side 里 suggests a village, and the right side 予 looks like a stretching hand. Picture a hand reaching out from the village into the open plains beyond.
For ヤ, imagine a yak grazing on the open plains: yak -> ヤ, and the yak roams the rustic fields.