Koch is a

Sino-Tibetan language Sino-Tibetan (also referred to as Trans-Himalayan) is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. Around 1.4 billion people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 ...

spoken by the

Koch people The Koch are a small trans-border ethnic group of Assam and Meghalaya in India and northern Bangladesh. The group consists of nine matrilineal and strictly exogamous clans, with some of them preserving a hitherto sparsely documented Boro-Gar ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. It is primarily spoken in the Indian states of

Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

, and

Lower Assam Lower Assam division is one of the 5 administrative divisions of Assam in India. It was formed in 1874, consisting of the undivided Kamrup district of Western Assam, undivided Darrang and Nagaon districts of Central Assam and Khasi & Jainti ...

and in the northern parts of the country

, where it serves as a major means of communication among the Koches (including Koch-Rajbongshi) and other ethnic groups in the region. Koch language is written with Assamese, Bengali, Roman scripts. There is an organization Koch Krorang Mathop in Tura,

which publishes Koch materials, such as books, an annual Koch magazine. Koch Development Forum is also working on the promotion of the Koch language among the Koch people who have now switched their language to

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages, or sometimes Indic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of 2024, there are more than 1.5 billion speakers, primarily concentrated east ...

. The state and National Anthem of Assam in Koch :

Dialects

The Koch language is currently represented by five surviving dialects, which are as follows: # Harigaya, # Tintikiya, # Wanang/Swmbri, # Chapra and # Margan

''Short representation of the various dialects:''

Geographical distribution

Koch is spoken in: *

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

: **

Baksa district Baksa district ( or ) is an administrative district in the Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam, one of the North-Eastern states of India. The administrative headquarters is at Mushalpur. Manas National Park is a part of this district. Etymo ...

- Hodi or Koch Mandai **

Bongaigaon district Bongaigaon district (Prpn:ˈbɒŋgaɪˌgãʊ) is an administrative district in the state of Assam in northeastern India. The district headquarters are located at Bongaigaon. The district occupies an area of 1,093 km2. Etymology According ...

- Madaci Koch, Koch **

Darrang district Darrang () is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located at Mangaldoi. The district occupies an area of 1585 km2. Etymology The etymology of Darrang reflects its historical significance ...

- Hodi or Koch Mandai **

Dhemaji district Dhemaji district (pronounced or ) is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located in Dhemaji and commercial headquarters are located in Silapathar. Dhemaji covers an area of 3,237 km2 a ...

- Hodi or Koch Mandai **

Dhubri district Dhubri District (Pron:ˈdʊbri) is an administrative districts of Assam, district in the Indian state of Assam. Included within the Kamatapur Autonomous Council, the district headquarters are located at Dhubri town which is situated ~290 ...

- Madaci Koch, Koch **

Goalpara district Goalpara district is an administrative districts of Assam, district of the Indian state of Assam. History It was a princely state ruled by the Koch dynasty, Koch kings and the then ruler of the undivided kingdom. Today the erstwhile Goalpara d ...

- Madaci koch, Kocho koro, Hodi or Koch Mandai **

Kokrajhar district Kokrajhar district is an administrative districts of Assam, district in Bodoland, Bodoland Territorial Region of Assam. It is predominantly inhabited by the Bodo people, Boro tribe. The district has its headquarters located at Kokrajhar Town a ...

- Madaci Koch, Koch **

Lakhimpur district Lakhimpur district ( ) is an administrative district in the state of Assam, India. The district headquarters is located at North Lakhimpur. It is bounded on the north by the Siang and Papumpare districts of Arunachal Pradesh and on the east by t ...

- Hodi or Koch Mandai **

Nagaon district Nagaon district is an administrative district in the Indian state of Assam. At the time of the 2011 census it was the most populous district in Assam, before Hojai district was split from it in 2016. History Bordowa was the birthplace of the ...

- Hodi or Koch Mandai, Kocho koro **

Udalguri district Udalguri district (Pron:ˌʊdʌlˈgʊəri), also known as Odalguri, is a district in the Bodoland Territorial Region of the state of Assam in Northeastern India. Udalguri town is the headquarters of the district. Etymology The name Udalguri den ...

- Hodi or Koch Mandai **

Sonitpur district Sonitpur district ron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊəis an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezpur. Etymology The name of the district is derived from a story found ...

- Hodi or Koch Mandai **

South Salmara district South Salmara-Mankachar is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarter is located at Hatsingimari village which is situated at about 245 km from Guwahati. It was earlier a sub-division of the Dhubri ...

- Hodi or Koch Mandai, Koch *

: Hodi or Koch Mandai and Kocho koro *

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

: Rajbongshi koch *

: **

East Khasi hills East Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. The district headquarters are located at Shillong. The district occupies an area of 2,748 km2 and has a population of 825,922 (as of 2011). , it is the most ...

- Hodi alias Koch Mandai **

West Garo Hills district West Garo Hills is an administrative district in Garo Hills of the state of Meghalaya in India. Tura, Meghalaya, Tura town is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district occupies an area of 3714 km². In 2011, its populatio ...

- Koch *

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

: Hodi or Koch Mandai or koch *

: Rajbongshi koch

Notes

References

* *Dialects
"Different Dialects"
*Koch language report by UNESCO World Atlas of Languages *Koch Dictionary Languages of Bangladesh Sal languages Languages of Assam Languages of Meghalaya Languages of Tripura Endangered languages of India {{st-lang-stub