Koch translation added to ethnē!
Koch Bible translation launches for 36,000–70,000 speakers in Northeast India and Bangladesh—a Tibeto-Burman heart language now carrying Scripture.
About the Koch Language
Estimated Speakers: ~36,000-70,000. Wikipedia reports 36,434 native speakers (2011 census data). Webonary reports ~70,000 speakers in Northeast India and northern Bangladesh. SIL sources indicate ~36,000 people. ~25,000 in Meghalaya alone according to SIL research.
Geographic Distribution: Primarily spoken in Northeast India (Meghalaya state, especially West Garo Hills District; Lower Assam in districts including Goalpara, Nagaon, Dhubri, Baksa, Bongaigaon, and others) and northern Bangladesh (especially northwestern regions in Dhaka division). Some Koch speakers also in Bihar, Tripura, West Bengal, and near Gazipur (Dhaka area).
Learn more: Ethnologue, Joshua Project and Wikipedia
The importance of the Koch language
Between 36,000 and 70,000 people speak Koch as their heart language—the tongue that carries their deepest identity and connects them to their ancestors. The 2011 census recorded 36,434 native speakers, while field research in Northeast India and northern Bangladesh suggests the number may reach 70,000. Koch speakers live primarily in Meghalaya state (especially West Garo Hills District, with ~25,000 speakers in Meghalaya alone) and Lower Assam (including Goalpara, Nagaon, Dhubri, Baksa, and Bongaigaon districts), with significant communities in northern Bangladesh's Dhaka division. Smaller Koch-speaking populations also inhabit Bihar, Tripura, West Bengal, and areas near Gazipur.
Koch belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family, descending through the Tibeto-Burman branch, Sal group, and Bodo-Garo subgroup to form the Kochic languages. Its closest relatives include Rabha and other Bodo-Garo languages such as Bodo and Garo. UNESCO lists Koch as "Definitely Endangered," reflecting the pressures of language shift as many Koch people adopt the surrounding Indo-Aryan languages—Assamese and Bengali. Though Ethnologue classifies Koch as "stable" with "Institutional" vitality because institutions beyond the home sustain it, the language receives no instruction in schools. All ethnic Koch people speak the language as their first language, yet widespread bilingualism in Assamese, Bengali, Garo, Hindi, and English makes Koch vulnerable. In Bangladesh, Koch dominates daily life among Koch people except in official settings, worship, marketplace interactions, and conversations with non-Koch speakers.
About this Koch translation
- Local Name: থার কোচ
- English Name: Koch
- Translation Scope: Partial Audio: Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, 2 Timothy, Philemon, James
- Audio by Hosanna
- In partnership with Bible Students Fellowship of Bangladesh
Show this QR code to a friend so that they can experience this Koch Bible in ethnē today!
This Koch translation in the wider community
Koch comprises six main varieties forming a dialect chain: Koch-Rabha, Wanang (also called Swmbri or Pani Koch), Harigaya, Margan, Chapra (Dasgaya), and Tintekiya, stretching geographically from north to south with adjacent dialects showing higher mutual intelligibility than those at opposite ends. Additional ethnolinguistic groups include Satpariya, Sankar, Banai, and Koch Mandai; Koch society divides into nine endogamous groups that traditionally intermarried rarely, each containing smaller clans called "nikini." Harigaya serves as a lingua franca at social gatherings and is widely understood across varieties; in Bangladesh, Tintekiya and Chapra predominate. Writers use Assamese and Bengali scripts primarily, with older speakers favoring Assamese and younger speakers increasingly choosing the Latin alphabet—standard orthographies in both scripts were proposed in 2009, though individual spelling conventions persist. A new Koch script created in 2021 by Day Chand Rangag has gained only limited adoption, and the language remains rarely written, with poems and short stories appearing occasionally in magazines. Koch people traditionally practice animism and worship the Hindu goddess Shakti, though some are Christian or Muslim; the community gained Scheduled Tribe status in Meghalaya in 1987, and organizations like Koch Krorang Mathop in Tura and the Koch Development Forum actively promote the language and publish materials including an annual magazine.
This Koch translation in local churches
Some Koch people worship as Christians, alongside Hindu and Muslim believers within the community. Global Recordings Network reports that Koch speakers include "Hindu, Muslim & Christian" adherents, yet available Christian resources remain limited. The community includes many oral and audio learners—GRN notes that speakers "Understand Bengali; Few literate"—making audio Scripture resources particularly vital for spiritual formation and discipleship. SIL has conducted extensive linguistic documentation since 2006, producing dictionaries and grammatical descriptions that lay a foundation for Scripture translation. This partial audio translation, published by Hosanna and Bible Students Fellowship of Bangladesh, brings God's Word in Koch speakers' heart language to communities in both Northeast India and northern Bangladesh, equipping indigenous believers to grow in faith and share the gospel within their nine ethnolinguistic groups and broader Koch networks.
