Manatak people

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Manatak
Total population
570000
Regions with significant populations
Gynnyn, Amaia and Balakia
Languages
Ziimen languages, Amaian language
Related ethnic groups
Amaian people, Zwazwan people

The Manatak people (Amaian: manatak 'returners', singular manata) are a people living in the Gynnyn area of Amaia. They are descendants of various Amaian and Zwazwan groups who settled in what is now Balakia from about 500 BCE to 1800 CE and were forced to leave Balakia during the transition to Kuulism in the 1950s, mainly settling in Gynnyn city and various parts of western Zwazwamia. During the Partition of Zwazwamia and Amaia almost all the Manatak in Zwazwamia fled to Amaia since they did not follow Pashaism.

The Manatak people historically spoke Amaian-Zwazwan relatives that preserved more archaic morphophonology and stress patterns while changing surface phonology and syntax dramatically under influence from the Balak language. These Ziimen languages (Amaian zìimen 'of the valley') are nowadays spoken by less than 2000 very elderly Manatak altogether in Amaia, with drastic language attrition under intense pressure from varieties of the Amaian language. However, they have tens of thousands of speakers in Balakia, although some varieties are only found in one country or another.

Culturally, the Manatak are quite assimilated into mainstream Gynnyn society and many descendants are only vaguely aware of their ancestry. Some Manatak have returned to Balakia following its independence in the 2000s, with their descendants numbering around 200000(?), but the majority still remain in Amaia.