The Chins use two words in referring to the Burmans: Vai(civilized) is used to describe Burman society as a whole and a more derogatory term, kawl, to describe the Burman individual.

There are forty four Chin-speaking peoples of western Burma and the Chin Special Division, each having less than 10 percent of the total number of Chins, estimated at 5,00,000 in 1970. The term Chin actually refers to a variety of groups whose languages are more closely related to each other than any other group. Chin speakers do not identify themselves as a single entity, although many groups, such as the Laizo, Mizo, Hyou, and Asho, use varying forms of the word Zo (such as yo and sho) as a term self-identification. Zo has the connotation of “uncivilized” in contrast to vai and, by implication, to Burman. The Chin-speaking population extends across the Burmese national border into north eastern India and Pakistan, where the language is usually called Kuki, or Kuki-Chin. North of the Chins are the Nagas, with whom they merge linguistically and culturally. There is reported to be little difference between the two groups, and it is difficult to determine where one begins and the other ends.

Area Handbook of Burma,1971, p.103-4