Ikegami (1980:397–400) proposes that Ainu inaw came from Oroch ilau or a closely related Tungusic language, with Tungusic l represented by Ainu n. The route into Ainu remains unknown; he considers direct borrowing, transmission through Nivkh, and an extinct intermediary language in Sakhalin. His concluding discussion also leaves open borrowing from Ainu or Nivkh into Tungusic.