Langenesis

Indo-European family

Pali

c. 300 BCE – 500 CE Classical

Pali (c. 300 BCE – 500 CE) is a classical Indo-European language. Lineage: Proto-Indo-European → Proto-Indo-Iranian → Proto-Indo-Aryan → Vedic Sanskrit → Pali.

See Pali on the interactive map
ISO 639-3
pli
Glottocode
pali1273

Middle Indo-Aryan literary language of the Theravāda Buddhist canon. Its exact dialectal base is disputed (often linked to western rather than Magadhi Prakrit). Still used liturgically and scholastically in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4,500 BCE – 2,500 BCE
  2. Proto-Indo-Iranianc. 2,500 BCE – 1,800 BCE
  3. Proto-Indo-Aryanc. 1,800 BCE – 1,500 BCE
  4. Vedic Sanskritc. 1,500 BCE – 500 BCE
  5. Palic. 300 BCE – 500 CE

Sister languages 9

Also descended from Vedic Sanskrit.

Sources