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 or Arabic script, although attempts to revive the Amazigh languages and cultures have led to the reintroduction of a "neo-Tifinagh" 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. 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. Retention of velar stop where most Berber varieties have replaced it with palatal approximant . Example: Awjila: təkəmmušt vs. Tachelhit: taymmust meaning bundle Palatalization of and to (written as š) and (written as ž) Dominance of the vowel and seeming shift from the vowel of other varieties to i 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. Lacks clitic-fronting 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 Libya, the future of this language seems grim. Although researchers at the School of Oriental and African Studies (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