Is it true that a polysyllabic verb ending in iru or eru whose e/i syllab is written in hiragana ichidan?


I read long ago that verbs containing more than two syllabs and whose syllab
before る containing the sound e or i is written in hiragana are all ichidan.
Is it an actual rule or just a useful trick with possible exceptions ?




> Is it true that a polysyllabic verb ending in iru or eru whose e/i syllab is
> written in hiragana ichidan?

In general, yes.

### The rule

The underlying rule for kana conventions is that conjugable endings are
written in kana. For example, for the verb _kokorozasu_ ("to intend to do
something"), only the _-su_ on the end conjugates, so the kanji-fied spelling
is 志す with that conjugable す hanging out as hiragana. For the verb _hairu_
("to enter"), only the _-ru_ on the end conjugates, so the kanji-fied spelling
is 入る with that conjugable る hanging out as hiragana.

However, for modern _ichidan_ verbs, the _-i-_ or _-e-_ before the る doesn't
change either. So why is that showing up in the kana after the kanji?

### The background

Historically, nearly all of the 一段活用動詞【いちだんかつようどうし】 (monograde-conjugation
verbs) evolved from earlier 二段【にだん】 (bigrade) forms. So modern _ichidan_ verb
変える "to change" evolved regularly from earlier classical 変う (well, strictly
speaking, 変ふ -- the ending _fu_ changed regularly to _u_ , but the ふ still
appears in old kana spellings, and monolingual Japanese dictionaries may still
show it this way). The 変う form for the classical verb is the dictionary form
(終止形【しゅうしけい】 or "terminal form"). The attributive form (連体形【れんたいけい】) ended in
える, and the attributive of the bigrade verbs basically merged with the
terminal to become the modern dictionary form.

Since that える ending is, historically, the conjugated ending, this is still
spelled in kana. This also helps differentiate the modern _ichidan_ verbs from
regular _godan_ verbs, more clearly distinguishing 変える ("to change", _ichidan_
) from 帰る ("to return", _godan_ ).

So too with the other modern _ichidan_ verbs. For instance, させる derives from
classical さす, される from classical さる, られる from classical らる, 広【ひろ】める from
classical 広【ひろ】む, and so on and so forth.

### Additional factor

Another element that incentivizes fuller kana spellings is that some verbs
have _ichidan_ variants that only differ visibly by that _-i-_ or _-e-_ verb
ending. One clear example is 見【み】る versus 見【み】える. If the spelling of the _-e-_
portion were subsumed into the kanji (such as the _kokoroza-_ portion at the
start of this post, subsumed into the 志 kanji), then we would not be able to
tell the difference between these two verbs, and reading would be (even more)
complicated.

### The result

Put it all together, and the end result is that modern _ichidan_ verbs have
the _-i-_ or _-e-_ verb endings spelled out in kana, even though these parts
no longer change in the modern language.

**Caveat:** As with many things in language, there may be exceptions to this.
I can't think of any at the moment, but I'm also not a native speaker. Plus,
manga are famous / notorious for creative spellings that may stray quite far
from accepted norms, so when reading manga, take any odd spellings with a
grain of salt. :)




> Is it true that a polysyllabic verb ending in iru or eru whose e/i syllab is
> written in hiragana ichidan?

In general, yes.

### The rule

The underlying rule for kana conventions is that conjugable endings are
written in kana. For example, for the verb _kokorozasu_ ("to intend to do
something"), only the _-su_ on the end conjugates, so the kanji-fied spelling
is 志す with that conjugable す hanging out as hiragana. For the verb _hairu_
("to enter"), only the _-ru_ on the end conjugates, so the kanji-fied spelling
is 入る with that conjugable る hanging out as hiragana.

However, for modern _ichidan_ verbs, the _-i-_ or _-e-_ before the る doesn't
change either. So why is that showing up in the kana after the kanji?

### The background

Historically, nearly all of the 一段活用動詞【いちだんかつようどうし】 (monograde-conjugation
verbs) evolved from earlier 二段【にだん】 (bigrade) forms. So modern _ichidan_ verb
変える "to change" evolved regularly from earlier classical 変う (well, strictly
speaking, 変ふ -- the ending _fu_ changed regularly to _u_ , but the ふ still
appears in old kana spellings, and monolingual Japanese dictionaries may still
show it this way). The 変う form for the classical verb is the dictionary form
(終止形【しゅうしけい】 or "terminal form"). The attributive form (連体形【れんたいけい】) ended in
える, and the attributive of the bigrade verbs basically merged with the
terminal to become the modern dictionary form.

Since that える ending is, historically, the conjugated ending, this is still
spelled in kana. This also helps differentiate the modern _ichidan_ verbs from
regular _godan_ verbs, more clearly distinguishing 変える ("to change", _ichidan_
) from 帰る ("to return", _godan_ ).

So too with the other modern _ichidan_ verbs. For instance, させる derives from
classical さす, される from classical さる, られる from classical らる, 広【ひろ】める from
classical 広【ひろ】む, and so on and so forth.

### Additional factor

Another element that incentivizes fuller kana spellings is that some verbs
have _ichidan_ variants that only differ visibly by that _-i-_ or _-e-_ verb
ending. One clear example is 見【み】る versus 見【み】える. If the spelling of the _-e-_
portion were subsumed into the kanji (such as the _kokoroza-_ portion at the
start of this post, subsumed into the 志 kanji), then we would not be able to
tell the difference between these two verbs, and reading would be (even more)
complicated.

### The result

Put it all together, and the end result is that modern _ichidan_ verbs have
the _-i-_ or _-e-_ verb endings spelled out in kana, even though these parts
no longer change in the modern language.

**Caveat:** As with many things in language, there may be exceptions to this.
I can't think of any at the moment, but I'm also not a native speaker. Plus,
manga are famous / notorious for creative spellings that may stray quite far
from accepted norms, so when reading manga, take any odd spellings with a
grain of salt. :)

