The word is understood to derive from the Ainuu (ウ), referring to mutuality, and musa (ムシャ), translated and defined by John Batchelor as "to stroke the head in salutation".[8][10]
^ abWalker, Brett L. (1996). "Reappraising the "Sakoku" Paradigm: The Ezo Trade and the Extension of Tokugawa Political Space into Hokkaidō". Journal of Asian History. 30 (2). Harrassowitz Verlag: 181 ff. JSTOR41931039.
^Godefroy, Noémi (2017). "Domination et dépendance: l'évolution du statut des chefs aïnous en Asie orientale (XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle)". Extrême-Orient Extrême-Occident (in French). 41. University of Chicago Press: 226 f. JSTOR26358426.