Pali (Pāḷi) is one of the group of languages classified by scholars as ‘Middle Indian’ or ‘Prakrit’.27 These languages are descended from Sanskrit, or rather from the spoken Old Indian language of which Sanskrit was a refined version – just as the Italic languages, Italian, French, Spanish etc., are descended from the vernacular Latin spoken in the Roman Empire, rather than from the literary language of Virgil and Tacitus.

Pali (Pāḷi) is one of the group of languages classified by scholars as ‘Middle Indian’ or ‘Prakrit’.27 These languages are descended from Sanskrit, or rather from the spoken Old Indian language of which Sanskrit was a refined version – just as the Italic languages, Italian, French, Spanish etc., are descended from the vernacular Latin spoken in the Roman Empire, rather than from the literary language of Virgil and Tacitus.