Awjila (also ''Aujila'', ''Augila'', ''Aoudjila'', ''Awgila'', ''Awdjila''; own name: Jlan n Awilen; in other Berber varieties Tawjilit) is a severely
endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
(considered "moribund" by ''Ethnologue'')
Eastern Berber language
The Eastern Berber languages are a group of Berber languages spoken in Libya and Egypt. They include Awjila, Sokna and Fezzan (El-Fogaha), Siwi and Ghadamès, though it is not clear that they form a valid genealogical group.
Eastern Berber ...
spoken in
Cyrenaica,
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
, in the
Awjila
Awjila (Awjila language, Berber: ''Awilan'', ''Awjila'', ''Awgila''; ar, أوجلة; Latin: ''Augila'') is an oasis town in the Al Wahat District in the Cyrenaica region of northeastern Libya. Since classical times it has been known as a place wh ...
oasis. Due to the
political situation in Libya, immediate data on the language has been inaccessible.
[van Putten, M. 2014. A Grammar of Awjila Berber (Libya). Based on Umberto Paradisi’s Material (Berber Studies 41). Rüdiger Köppe Verlag: Köln.] However, Facebook postings by speakers and younger semi-speakers have provided some recent supplementary data.
General information
Awjila is a member of the
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
branch of the
Afroasiatic language family
The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...
, of the Eastern Berber subgroup. It is closely related to
Ghadames of Libya though considerably more endangered, with an estimated 2,000–3,000 native speakers remaining.
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
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
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by ''The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spellin ...
, 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".
[http://muftah.org/denied-existence-libyan-berbers-under-gaddafi-and-hope-for-the-current-revolution/#.VVA-EflViko Solieman, Ishrah. "Denied Existence: Libyan-Berbers under Gaddafi and Hope for the Current Revolution." Muftah. N.p., 24 Mar. 2011. Web. 11 May 2015.] 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
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
, 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
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
(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
A pharyngeal consonant is a consonant that is articulated primarily in the pharynx. Some phoneticians distinguish upper pharyngeal consonants, or "high" pharyngeals, pronounced by retracting the root of the tongue in the mid to upper pharynx, ...
and their non-emphatic counterparts).
Moritz von Beurmann also contributed a short word list but some forms contradict information found in later sources.
The latest field work was done by Umberto Paradisi in 1960, whose data (in the form of texts) have become the basis for all future studies of the language, particularly that of contemporary scholar Marijn van Putten who has taken up the study of Awjila and other Eastern Berber varieties. Van Putten, who has published extensively on the language, relies heavily on the work of Paradisi and has used it to compile a dictionary and a grammar within his 2014 book ''A Grammar of Awjila Berber''.
Writing system
Although historically
Libyco-Berber languages were written with the
Tifinagh alphabet between second century BCE and third century CE, Aujila and other Amazigh languages have remained oral for most of their modern existence. In recent times most Amazigh languages are written in either
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
or
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
script, although attempts to revive the Amazigh languages and cultures have led to the reintroduction of a "
neo-Tifinagh
Tifinagh ( Tuareg Berber language: or , ) is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes called Tuareg Tifinagh, is still favored by the Tuare ...
" script in several domains. Nevertheless, Gaddafi had banned the script during the 42-years of his oppressive regime and therefore it is unlikely that the few Awjila speakers make any significant use of it.
Grammar
Phonology
Awjila has several interesting
phonological features that set it apart from most other varieties of
Berber
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
Ethnic group
* Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa
* Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages
Places
* Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile
People with the surname
* Ady Berber (1913–196 ...
. A few notable distinctions are listed below: (Van Putten)
1. Retention of
Proto-Berber β as the
v rather than being lost as in most other modern varieties.
[Marijn, Putten Van. "Some Notes on the Historical Consonantism of Awjila." Folia Orientalia 51 (2014): 257-74.]
2. Loss of the
pharyngealized
Pharyngealization is a secondary articulation of consonants or vowels by which the pharynx or epiglottis is constricted during the articulation of the sound.
IPA symbols
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, pharyngealization can be indicated ...
voiced dental stop
Stop may refer to:
Places
* Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States
* Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Facilities
* Bus stop
* Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck d ...
and entirely replaced it with the
voiceless
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...
variant. Example: Awjila ''avəṭ'' vs. Tachelhit: ''iḍ'' meaning night.
3. Retention of
velar stop
In phonetics and phonology, a velar stop is a type of consonantal sound, made with the back of the tongue in contact with the soft palate (also known as the velum, hence velar), held tightly enough to block the passage of air (hence a stop consonan ...
k where most Berber varieties have replaced it with palatal approximant
j. Example: Awjila: ''təkəmmušt'' vs. Tachelhit: ''taymmust'' meaning bundle
4.
Palatalization
Palatalization may refer to:
*Palatalization (phonetics), the phonetic feature of palatal secondary articulation
*Palatalization (sound change)
Palatalization is a historical-linguistic sound change that results in a palatalized articulation ...
of
s and
z to
ʃ (written as š) and
ʒ (written as ž)
5. Dominance of the
i vowel
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...
and seeming shift from the
a vowel of other varieties to i
[Van Putten, Marijn. "Some Notes on the Development of Awjila Berber Vowels1." Nordic Journal of African Studies 22.4 (2013): 236-255.]
Morphology and syntax
Awjila also has several distinguishing features in the domains of
morphology
Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to:
Disciplines
*Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts
*Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...
and
syntax
In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
:
[van Putten, Marijn. "An Aujila Berber Vocabulary."]
1. Lacks overt
case-marking that has been retained in other Berber varieties.
2. Lacks clitic-fronting
3. Clitic –a is used with the present to express a resultative state, a feature shared only by the easternmost Berber variety,
Siwa
Status
Due to the already dwindled population of Awjila speakers and the continued political strife in post-
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
Libya, the future of this language seems grim. Although researchers at the
School of Oriental and African Studies
SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...
(SOAS) and the president of the Congrès Mondial Amazigh have confirmed that speakers of the language still remain, all of the known speakers have been advanced in age, suggesting that younger generations are not learning Awjila.
References
External links
Awjilah Profile at the Endangered Languages Project*
ttps://orientalberber.wordpress.com/category/awjila/ Awjila BlogLibyan security authorities to prevent the publication of the official poster for the festival traditional costume Pkpau
{{authority control
Eastern Berber languages
Berbers in Libya
Languages of Libya
Endangered Afroasiatic languages