This article examines complement clauses in the Caribbean English spoken in Bequia (St Vincent and the Grenadines). Despite a small population (about 5,000), physical proximity and pervasive kinship ties across villages, Bequia English is characterised by considerable inter-group differentiation, suggesting the existence of a (post-)creole continuum. We analyse variation in the complementisers used to introduce finite (that, zero) and non-finite subordinate clauses (for, to, zero) and relative clauses (that, wh-forms, zero) in recorded conversations with 26 speakers from four villages. While frequency of complementiser use differs markedly across villages, patterns of variation do not present a straightforward continuum between more (Standard-)English-like and more creole-like speech. Examination of the linguistic constraints conditioning complementiser choice provides evidence for distinct emergent endonormative patterns for Bequia English that belie the superficial differences between villages. We argue that linguistic details serve as a common means of expressing a highly local variety of English.

中文翻译：

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东加勒比地区的互补和克里奥尔语连续体

本文考察了在贝基亚岛（圣文森特和格林纳丁斯）使用的加勒比英语中的补语从句。尽管人口少（约 5,000 人）、村庄之间的物理距离和普遍的亲属关系，Bequia English 的特点是具有相当大的群体间差异，表明存在（后）克里奥尔连续体。我们分析了用于引入有限（that，零）和非有限从句（for，to，零）和关系从句（that，wh-表格，零）在与来自四个村庄的 26 位发言人的录音对话中。虽然不同村庄的补语使用频率明显不同，但变异模式并没有在更像（标准）英语和更像克里奥尔语的语音之间呈现出直接的连续统一体。对语言约束条件互补者选择的检查为 Bequia 英语的不同新兴内规范模式提供了证据，这些模式掩盖了村庄之间的表面差异。我们认为，语言细节是表达高度本地化的英语多样性的常用手段。