Lepontic is the name given to an Indo-European language hypothesized to have been spoken in the Alpine region of northern Italy from approximately 600 BC to 100 AD. The name "Lepontic" comes from Lepontii, the Latin name for a tribe of people living in the area of northern Italy where the language is believed to have been spoken.
Lapontic is known from approximately 140 inscriptions written in the Alphabet of Lugano, one of several northern Italian alphabets derived from the Etruscan alphabet. There is much debate between historical linguists over whether all of the inscriptions written in the Alphabet of Lugano are examples of Lapontic, or whether some might represent other languages, and whether Lapontic should really be considered a separate language, or just a dialect of Cisalpine Gaulish. These debates are related to the question of whether the Lapontian people were ethnically Celtic, Germanic, or something else.