Maskin, maski, masque ... in the Spanish and Portuguese creoles of Asia Same particle, same provenance? Nancy Vazquez Veiga and Mauro A. Fernandez While much of the scholarship on the subject oflbero-Asian pidgins and cre- oles does contain some mention of the maski/maskin/masque particle, so far no detailed study has been made of the contrasting uses of the form in the different varieties. The prevailing wisdom holds that the particle originated solely from Portuguese masque, based on the mistaken belief that the same construction in Spanish had no concessive value. In this paper, we will examine the signifi- cant variations in the meaning of this particle in the different Portuguese and Spanish creole languages of Asia. Building on that analysis, we will challenge the notion of a common Portuguese origin and show instead how the differences in meaning between Spanish-Philippine creoles and the other varieties in the region came about as a result of the contact that took place between Spanish and the indigenous languages of the Philippines. 1. Introduction As every creolist knows, it was Whinnom ( 1956) who first suggested that the Spanish creoles of the Philippines came about as a result of the contact between Spanish and a Portuguese Malay pidgin believed to have been spoken in the Moluccan Islands. Over time, Whinnom grew more and more convinced of his theory, to the point of believing that he had in fact 'proved' it to be so. That is what is so strange about Whinnom's ( 1956) explanation of the origin of masque [maske], which he introduces in connection with this sentence from a story by Jesus Balmori entitled 'Na maldito arena: an example of what he called the 'Ermitano' dialect: y el viejo ta pensa na su vida, peliz agora, masque el madre de Pelisa ya mor{ de viejo. Whinnom's gloss reads as follows: