What does the sentence ending particle や mean?


Out of all sentence ending particles, I cannot really pinpoint what や means. I
don't meet it often (or maybe I don't have enough experience or exposure) and
in situations which don't really explain themselves. Also, is it a real
particle anyway?

Some examples I recently found (from books):

> 「くつろいでくれや」
>
> 「それが実はアイロンではないからや」

I hope those examples make sense without the context. I know that those kind
of particles are hard to explain but any explanation is welcome.




We are actually discussing TWO different kinds of 「や」 here, which is probably
why you seem more confused than you should be.

In 「くつろいでくれ **や** 」, the 「や」 is a colloquial (and almost exclusively
masculine) sentence-ending particle for 1) imperative, 2) invitation and 3)
request. You are saying "(Please) make yourself at home."

Note that it attaches directly to the imperative form of a verb (「くれ」 in this
case).

In 「それが実{じつ}はアイロンではないから **や** 」, the 「や」 is a dialectal (and gender-neutral)
sentence-ender mostly for Kansai. It expresses affirmation and it is the
equivalent of 「だ」 in Standard Japanese. "That is because it really is not an
iron."




We are actually discussing TWO different kinds of 「や」 here, which is probably
why you seem more confused than you should be.

In 「くつろいでくれ **や** 」, the 「や」 is a colloquial (and almost exclusively
masculine) sentence-ending particle for 1) imperative, 2) invitation and 3)
request. You are saying "(Please) make yourself at home."

Note that it attaches directly to the imperative form of a verb (「くれ」 in this
case).

In 「それが実{じつ}はアイロンではないから **や** 」, the 「や」 is a dialectal (and gender-neutral)
sentence-ender mostly for Kansai. It expresses affirmation and it is the
equivalent of 「だ」 in Standard Japanese. "That is because it really is not an
iron."

