The language is only known from a few inscriptions discovered that were written in a variety of the Northern Italic alphabet, which was related to the Old Italic alphabet. These inscriptions were found in an area centered around Lugano, including Lago di Como and Lago Maggiore. The closely related Rhaetic and Venetic dialects had similar scripts, and many scholars believe that they and the Lepontic writing systems are the direct models adopted for the Germanicrunic alphabets.
Some scholars believe that Lepontic may be a dialect of Gaulish. Others, however, question the classification of this dialect as Gaulish and even Celtic, but consider it, together with a number of other dialects of ancient Northern Italy and Southern Gaul, as related to the Ligurian language.
Lepontic was eventually assimilated by Latin, after the Roman Empire gained control over Northern Italy.
The Celtic language family is made up of the extinct Continental Celtic languages (consisting of Celtiberian, Gaulish, Lepontic, and Galatian), and the Insular Celtic languages of the so-called British Isles.
This insular group is further divided into the Brythonic languages, consisting of Cumbrian, Welsh, Cornish, and Breton of which only Welsh and Breton have survived into modern times, and the Goidelic family of Scots Gaelic, Manx Gaelic, and IrishGaelic, known in Ireland simply as Irish.
Celts in western continental Europe spoke Gaulish; Celts in what is now called Spain spoke Celtiberian; Celts in the Balkans spoke Galatian; Celts in the region of modern Switzerland spoke Lepontic.
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