The Berber, or Amazigh, are descendants of the pre-Arab population of North Africa. Some of the Amazigh languages spoken in Libya include Awjilah, Tamahaq, Nafusi and Ghadamès⁴. The Amazigh languages belong to the Afro-asiatic family of languages. It is estimated that there are almost 600,000 Amazigh speakers in Libya today; this amounts to approximately 10 percent of the country’s total population⁵.

Under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi ,the use of Amazigh languages was banned in schools and universities. Gaddafi was against the use of these languages as given their non-Arabic origins and the fact they predated the arrival of Islam in Libya. Gaddafi persecuted the Amazigh, whom he saw as a risk to his goal of converting Libya into a homogenous Arab society. In 1973, under Gaddafi's regime, individuals were prohibited from giving Amazigh names to children⁶. However, the government in post-revolution Libya has abandoned these homogenising goals and there is now an acceptance of the Amazigh languages. In fact, "Libya TV", a channel promoted by the Independent Revolutionaries has opted to include the Tamahaq language, and the Tifinagh alphabet in which it is written, in some of its programming to assist in reaching as large an audience as possible⁷.

Tamahaq is the only known Tuareg language used in Libya, and is often referred to as ‘Ghat’, named after the area in southwestern Libya, which is the home of the Tuareg population⁸. The Tuareg people are a Saharan nomadic tribe, who were favoured by the Gaddafi regime, and were permitted to speak Tamahaq (Ghat), which Gaddafi considered to have sufficient nexus to Arabic.

Nafusi is an Amazigh language spoken mainly by the Ibadi communities living in the Nafusa mountains, in northwestern Libya. It is used amongst the communities living in the areas of Jadu (mountain town in western Libya), Nalut (which lies approximately halfway between Tripoli and Ghadames, at the western end of the Nafusa Mountains’ coastal range, in the Tripolitania region) and Yarfan (a city in northwest Libya). The Ibadi are an austere Muslim sect, most dominant in Oman, but also prevalent in Libya, and are the primary speakers of the Nafusi language⁹.

Ghadames is a distinct Amazigh language on its own that has some unique phonological and morphological features. It is spoken mainly in the oasis town of Ghadames, in the Naulat district of Libya. The lexicon of Ghadames shows very little Arabic influence¹⁰.

Tedaga is the language that belongs to the family of Nilo Saharan languages and is spoken by the Teda people of southern Libya. The Teda are a northern subgroup of the Tebou people who live primarily in southern Libya, Chad and northeastern Niger, and Tedaga is one of the two varieties of Tebou, the other being Dazaga, spoken by the Daza subgroup of the Tebou people who primarily inhabit Northern Chad¹⁴.

Awjila, is an eastern Amazigh language spoken in Cyrenaica in the Awjila oasis and is considered a severely endangered language. The language belongs to the Berber subgroup of the Afroasiatic language family. It is estimated that there are only 2000 - 3000 people left in Libya who speak this language, most of whom are of middle age or older¹⁵.

Sokna, is also an eastern Amazigh language that was spoken in the towns of Sokna and Fuquha in northeastern Fezzan and is now considered an extinct language. The severe oppression faced by the Amazigh tribes under Gaddafi, was the primary reason for the demise of the Sokna language ¹⁶.

Italian was the official language of Libya, from the time of the Italian invasion and colonisation in 1911 until Libya’s independence in 1951. Following independence, Arabic was reinstated as the official language of Libya. The number of Italian speakers in Libya diminished greatly following the expulsion of the remaining Italian community by Gaddafi in 1970. However, Libya may see a resurgence of the language, as the education authority has begun offering Italian language courses for senior school pupils beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year. This educational initiative has been funded by an agreement between the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Italian government¹⁷.

After Libya’s independence in 1951, English was considered by the monarchical government to be an important language of international currency and was introduced into the Libyan educational curriculum: it was intended to be used in the teaching of the sciences and was also considered and was promoted as an essential language for business and the economy. This continued until 1986, when following the US and UK led air-raid against the Gaddafi regime, the Libyan Ministry of Education passed Decision No.195/1986 which halted the teaching of foreign languages in Libya. However, the importance of English with regard to commerce soon became apparent and, between 1993 and 1994, steps were taken by the Ministry of Education to reintroduce the language into the curriculum. However, currently, the teaching of English has been beset with problems, mainly due to the lack of qualified teachers and the current civil unrest which has caused interruptions to education¹⁸.