The Montreal Underdocumented Languages Linguistics (MULL) Laboratory brings together faculty, students, and members of linguistic communities in the Montreal area around shared goals of linguistic research and language documentation.
Underdocumented languages are languages which have relatively little linguistic materials available for people to study. They stand in contrast with well-documented languages that have large bodies of linguistic research. Some well documented languages include English, Mandarin Chinese, and Swahili. Some underdocumented languages include Cuzco Quechua, Kabyle, and Igala. Although some underdocumented languages are spoken by large numbers of people, many underdocumented languages are also endangered languages with small or rapidly decreasing numbers of speakers.
The study of underdocumented languages is important both for linguistic theory, and for language documentation and revitalization. In order to advance linguistic theory, it is essential to construct and test theories not only with well-known languages like English and French, but also with many typologically diverse languages. MULL researchers have produced work contributing to aspects of linguistic theory from syntax and semantics to morphology and prosody.
MULL also recognizes importance of linguistic work which contributes not only to linguistic theory, but to ongoing community-driven efforts to document and revitalize their languages. MULL researchers have been actively involved in leading and supporting these efforts in a number of different language families and contexts.