Consonant cluster reduction

As is typical in many dialects of English around the world, the word-final /t/ segment in consonant clusters preceded by an obstruent is often not realized, e.g. /-ft, -st, -kt/. For example, words such as left, nest and act are realized as /lεf/, /nεs/, and /ak/. Consonant clusters in codas in which /d/ is in the final position are also often not realized in many English-derived West Indian creoles, e.g. /sεn/ send or /bɪl/ build.

The reduction of consonant clusters in codas also affects the realization of past tense allomorphs as heard in metropolitan varieties of English as in pushed /pʊʃ​t/ , stopped /stapt/ and staged /stedƷd/ . The past tense allomorphs /-d/, /-t/ and /-ɪd/ are generally absent in Creole varieties of English, but it is difficult to be certain if they always were. However, they are part of the metropolitan speech varieties spoken in many Anglophone Caribbeans locations today.

Word-final clusters of a nasal and a voiceless consonant are heard in West Indian varieties of English, e.g. [lamp] lamp, [tεnt] tent, tenth, and [baŋk] bank. Clusters in codas are also found in combination with liquids (in combination with [l] and [r], if it is a rhotic dialect such as Bajan), e.g. [mɪlk] milk, [ʃεlf] shelf, [part] part, and [hard] hard. Other consonant cluster combinations occur freely such as /ks/, e.g. [aks] ask, [baks] box, [sɪks] six. In some deep Creole varieties, consonant clusters in onsets or word-initially are dispreferred, e.g. [ta:t] start, [tan] stand, [tap] stop.