Gaulish Language

The Gaulish (also Gallic) language is the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul, Switzerland, eastern Belgium and western Germany before being supplanted by Vulgar Latin, Dutch and German from around the 4th century A.D onwards. Gaulish is paraphyletically grouped with Celtiberian, Lepontic, and Galatian as Continental Celtic. The Lepontic language is sometimes considered to be a dialect of Gaulish. Gaulish is a P-Celtic language, though some inscriptions (e.g. the Coligny Calendar) show Q-Celtic characteristics. It has a very close relationship to Insular Celtic (Goidelic and Brythonic), and many forms are identical in the two. The Gaulish language is known from several hundred inscriptions on stone, on ceramic vessels and other artifacts, and on coins, and occasionally on metal (lead, and on one occasion zinc[citation needed]). Epigraphical remains have been uncovered across all of what used to be Roman Gaul, which covered the west of modern France, as well as parts of Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Belgium.