The present project aims at providing both a linguistic and an anthropological documentation of Laal, both aspects being understood as complementary and inseparable. The linguistic documentation aims at providing the first full description of Laal, including a grammar and an extended vocabulary (first step towards the compilation of a comprehensive dictionary), and complemented by a thorough documentation of language use and oral literary repertoire, in the form of a collection of interlinearized and annotated texts and audio/video recordings. The anthropological documentation, carried out by an ethnologist and an ethnomusicologist, aims to give a comprehensive account of Laal culture and history, through a sociolinguistic survey, a documentation of social organization, environmental knowledge, oral history, religious rituals and practices, and musical practices.

Another goal of this project is to contribute to the development of the language and of its use (e.g. in schools, or within families living far from the villages and in which the language gradually ceases to be used) by designing the necessary information and tools for and in collaboration with the community: practical orthography, ABC primers, concise pedagogical grammar sketch, lexicon, text collection etc.

Finally, the team will try to train interested community members in basic linguistic and anthropological skills, in order to allow them to pursue the documentation of their language and culture after the completion of this project.