Pāḷi

The word pāḷi simply means ‘a line of text’ but has come to be used as the name for the language that the Tipiṭaka used by Theravāda Buddhists is written in. Traditional Buddhists believe that the Buddha spoke Pāḷi although this is certainly not correct. Some modern philologists think Pāḷi was actually a language of western or central India, while others maintain that it was a literary language based on a form of Māgadhī. In later centuries the Theravada tradition came to look upon Pāḷi as a sacred language, claiming that the Dhamma could only be understood by learning it in Pāḷi. It was believed to be the original language (mulabhāsā, Vism.441) and the Sammohavinadinī went as far as to claim that if a child was bought up never hearing a language it would naturally speak  Pāḷi. None of this accords with the Buddhas understanding of language. The Buddha knew that no one language is better than any other in transmitting truth and thus his exhortation: ‘I allow you to learn the Buddha’s words each in your own language’ (Vin.II,139).

Until recently, most books on Theravāda — histories, poems, commentaries, stories, etc. — were written in Pāḷi. Any well-educated monk in Sri Lanka, Burma or Thailand will be proficient in Pāḷi.