Awjila (also Aujila, Augila, Aoudjila, Awgila, Awdjila; endonym: ) is a severely endangered (considered "moribund" by Ethnologue) Eastern Berber language spoken in Cyrenaica, Libya, in the Awjila oasis. Due to the political situation in Libya, immediate data on the language has been inaccessible. However, Facebook postings by speakers and younger semi-speakers have provided some recent supplementary data.
General information
Awjila is a member of the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic language family, of the Eastern Berber subgroup. It is closely related to the extinct Sokna language of Libya and is considerably endangered, with an estimated 2,000–3,000 native speakers remaining. UNESCO considers Awjila to be seriously endangered as the youngest speakers have reached or passed middle age.
The Berber languages of Libya faced severe oppression during the period of Muammar Gaddafi, which has likely been the cause of the demise of some varieties such as Sokna and the endangerment of others, including Awjila and Ghadames. The usage of Berber/Amazigh languages was effectively prohibited, and Gaddafi completely denied the existence of the Imazighen people, reportedly saying, "call yourselves whatever you want inside your homes – Berbers, children of Satan, whatever – but you are only Libyans when you leave your homes". He denied the existence of Berbers as a separate ethnicity, and called Berbers a "product of colonialism" created by the West to divide Libya. He repeatedly targeted Amazigh rights activists (including linguists from abroad), to which can be attributed the lack of current and updated information on the Libyan Berber languages and the relatively limited content available, even in Arabic, on the Internet (as opposed to the more extensive resources found on Moroccan and Algerian Amazigh varieties). The language is, however, used on Facebook by some Awjili members.
History of scholarship
Because of the political issues in Libya, field work on Awjila has been limited. The earliest studies of the language were carried out by Müller in 1827, however, his work is difficult to analyze because there were no standard conventions such as the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for transcribing it at that time and because he failed to make distinctions for various sounds in Awjila (such the difference between as emphatic, pharyngeal consonants and their non-emphatic counterparts).
Phonology
Awjila has several interesting phonological features that set it apart from most other varieties of Berber. A few notable distinctions are listed below: (Van Putten)
- Retention of Proto-Berber as the rather than being lost as in most other modern varieties.
- Loss of the pharyngealized voiced dental stop and entirely replaced it with the voiceless variant. Example: Awjila avəṭ vs. Tachelhit: iḍ meaning night.
Morphology and syntax
Awjila also has several distinguishing features in the domains of morphology and syntax:
- Lacks overt case-marking that has been retained in other Berber varieties.