As things stand, we are asked to believe that different African languages contributed different rules and features to particular creoles. To accept that this is possible is to accept what Dillard [Dillard, J.L. 1970. “Principles in the History of American English- Paradox, Virginity and Cafeteria”, Florida FL Reporter 8 (1-2) pp. 32-33], in a slightly different context, aptly termed the “Cafeteria Principle.” Dillard was arguing against the once widespread belief that creoles were mixtures of rules and features from various regional dialects of the British Isles.
- Bickerton (1981), Pag. 49