Pali is a Middle Indo-Aryan
language (of Prakrit group) of the Indian
subcontinent. It is best known as the language of
many of the earliest extant Buddhist scriptures,
as collected in the Pali Canon or Tipitaka, and as
the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism.
Pali is a literary language of the Prakrit language
family and was first written down in Sri Lankain
the first century BCE.