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.
[citation needed] 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.
[10][11] 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 earliest studies of the language were carried out by Müller in 1827,[13] 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).
[6] Moritz von Beurmann also contributed a short word list but some forms contradict information found in later sources.