栄える

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 栄える, read さかえる, is an ichidan intransitive verb for a place or community prospering and flourishing.
• Basic usage: It describes a port that prospered through trade or a town that thrives by valuing its culture.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• The prospering entity is the subject
  • 港は栄えた and 町が栄える make the port or town the entity that prospers; the verb is not transitive.
• Cause comes from context
  • 交易によって supplies a cause, while valuing culture characterizes the town. 栄える alone does not specify why prosperity occurs.