Alternate Names: Haijong, Hazong
Dialects: Banai, Dalu. No prestige or standard dialect recognized. Intelligible with Hajong of Bangladesh. Lexical similarity: 82%–91% between Banai dialect of Koch , and mainstream Hajong varieties, 74%–77% between Dalu dialect and mainstream Hajong varieties, 79% between Banai dialect of Koch , and Dalu, 54%–64% with Assamese ,, 63%–67% with Bengali ,, 74%–85% with Hajong of Bangladesh.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 63,000 in India (2001 census). Population total all countries: 71,000.
Language Use: Vigorous. All domains. Positive attitudes. Also use Assamese [asm]; educated have high fluency in Assamese. Also use Bengali [ben], Garo [grt]. Used as L2 by Koch [kdq].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 20%–25%; 48% for Meghalaya (2001 census). Radio programs. TV. Bible portions.
Writing System: Bengali, Latin
Nation of Origin: India
Other Comments: A Scheduled Tribe. Jharua may be an alternate name. Though linguistically different, the Banai affiliate themselves with the Koch. Traditional religion, Hindu.