The prefix Va- (used in Shona before male names to signify seniority and respect) is Sa- in Manyika.
The identification through cultures languages and artificial boundaries worked well in separating and dividing the Zimbabweans thus making it easier for the management and control of the administrative districts.
This has subsequently led to the abandonment and lack of appreciation of minority cultures by so doing killing the aspect of identity and belonging.
In 1695 Emperor Changamire Dombo overran the rich gold-producing kingdom of Manyika, descending to the lowlands on the eastern edge of the country to destroy the Portuguese market town at Masikwesi.
In their attempt to gain control of "the Pungwe River route, which was the main water way to and from Beira", the British South Africa Company imposed "a treaty on Mutasa on 14 September 1890".
Once the company's frontiers had been fixed by means of war and arbitration, there was no longer any need to inflate the power and territory of Mutasa.
"Umtassa's country and people are called Manyika", wrote Native Commissioner Umtali in January 1904.
In 1915, a debate arose within the Native Department about the significance of the term mayinini in relation to Manyika marriage customs.
Superintendent of Natives Umtali mocked Meredith's "18 years experience of Manyika customs gathered in other districts" and invoked the authority of Archdeacon Etheridge (the leading missionary expert on Mutasa's chiefdom).
"I do not of course know", wrote Etheridge, "what word may be used in Chindau, or Chirungwe, the dialects spoken in Melsetter and Rusape [Makoni] districts, but as regards Chimanyika there is no question at all".