Substratal influence. Since it was believed that the substratal languages of Caribbean, Bight of Benim, and Indian Ocean Creoles could have been in large part, or in some cases perhaps exclusively, drawn from the West African area, in particular the Kwa group, it could be claimed that the early-creolized creoles reflected broad similarities in Kwa and related languages […] However […] the differences between even related languages, in those grammatical areas presently under discussion, are quite considerable, and while partial resemblances have occasionally been pointed out between the characteristic creole tense-aspect system and the systems of various African languages, no case of anything approaching identity has as yet been uncovered. Indeed, in the highly unlikely event of some indigenous African language’s being found that showed point-by-point identity with the creole model, ‘substratomaniacs’ would still be faced with the problem of explaining how that language (which must obviously be a minor and little-known one) could have won out against all competing models, sub- and superstrate, during the period of creole formation.
- Bickerton (1977), a pag.61