The Tongva are a Native American people originally inhabiting the area in and around Los Angeles, California, previously known as the "Gabrieleno" or "San Gabrieleno" tribe. Tongva means "people of the earth" in the Tongvan language.
... because an a, called the theme vowel, is inserted between the stem and the ending. This serves to make the thematic verbs generally more well-behaved. Exponents ...