Selkup
/ˈsɛl.kʊp/noun
A member of an Indigenous Samoyedic people of western Siberia, or their language.
Did you know?Selkup is an English form based on the people’s own name, while older Russian sources often classified them under the misleading umbrella term “Ostyak-Samoyed.”
Etymological Timeline
Pre-modern period
Selkup
šöľqup
“A Selkup self-designation traditionally analyzed as “forest person” or “people of the forest””
19th Century
Russian
селькуп
“Russian ethnonym for the Selkup people”
19th Century
Russian
остя́к-самое́д
“Older Russian classification, literally combining “Ostyak” with “Samoyed””
20th Century
English
Selkup
“English ethnonym for the people and their Samoyedic language”
Modern English
English
Selkup
“An Indigenous Siberian people, their language, or anything relating to them”