in the region between the Ob and Yenisei Rivers (in Siberia).

The language name Selkup comes from the Russian селькуп, based on the native name used in the Taz dialect, шӧльӄумыт әты (šöľqumyt əty lit.

Selkup is fractured in an extensive dialect continuum whose ends are no longer mutually intelligible.

The three main varieties are the Taz (Northern) dialect (тазовский диалект, tazovsky dialekt), which became the basis of the Selkup written language in the 1930s, Tym (Central) dialect (тымский диалект, tymsky dialekt), and Ket dialect (кетский диалект, ketsky dialekt).

Generally the rightmost long vowel in a word is stressed, or otherwise the first syllable, but certain suffixes with short vowels may acquire stress, leading to minimal pairs such as [ˈtɕɛlʲtɕalqo] 'to stamp down' vs. [tɕɛlʲˈtɕalqo] 'to stamp once'.