This book investigates syllable structure and phonotactic restructuring in six Caribbean
creoles with Dutch English and French as main lexifier languages. The earliest reliable data
available for each creole are analysed statistically to determine which lexifier structures are
retained in the creole which ones undergo restructuring (and at which rates) and which
restructuring mechanisms are preferred in case of repair. The description of creole structures
is kept as theory-neutral as possible to make the analysis meaningful to researchers working in
different theoretical frameworks. The investigation reveals that although some structures are
more commonly permitted than others there is considerable cross-creole variation especially
with respect to word-final structures. This variation concerns both permissible structures and
the preferred choice among different repair strategies. It is shown that the vast majority of
the observed patterns can receive a plausible explanation if we assume that L1 transfer
substrate levelling and (partial) L2 acquisition feature prominently among the mechanisms in
creolisation. The findings thus provide support for recent SLA approaches to the emergence of
creole phonology (Plag 2009 Uffmann 2009).
