Editing Pali (section)

==Pali literature==
{{main|Pali literature}}
[[Pali literature]] is usually divided into canonical and non-canonical or extra-canonical texts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Law |first1=Bimala Churn |title=Non-Canonical Pali Literature |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |date=January 1932 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=97–143 |jstor=41688230}}</ref> Canonical texts include the whole of the [[Pali Canon]] or ''[[Tripiṭaka|Tipitaka]]''. With the exception of three books placed in the [[Khuddaka Nikaya]] by only the Burmese tradition, these texts (consisting of the five [[Nikaya]]s of the [[Sutta Pitaka]], the [[Vinaya Pitaka]], and the books of the [[Abhidhamma Pitaka]]) are traditionally accepted as containing the words of the Buddha and his immediate disciples by the Theravada tradition.

Extra-canonical texts can be divided into several categories:
* Commentaries (''[[Atthakatha]]'') which record additional details and explanations regarding the contents of the Suttas.
* Sub-commentaries (''[[Sub-commentaries (Theravāda)|ṭīkā]]'') which explain and add contents to the commentaries
* Chronicles (''[[Vaṃsa]]'') which relate the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, as well as the origins of famous relics and shrines and the deeds of historical and mythical kings
* Manuals and treatises, which include summaries of canonical books and compendia of teachings and techniques like the [[Visuddhimagga]]
* [[Abhidhamma]] manuals, which explain the contents of the [[Abhidhamma Pitaka]]

Other types of texts present in Pali literature include works on grammar and poetics, medical texts, astrological and [[divination]] texts, cosmologies, and anthologies or collections of material from the canonical literature.<ref name=Norman/>

While the majority of works in Pali are believed to have originated with the Sri Lankan tradition and then spread to other Theravada regions, some texts may have other origins. The [[Milinda Panha]] may have originated in northern India before being translated from Sanskrit or [[Gandhari Prakrit]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Von Hinüber |first=Oskar |author-link=Oskar von Hinüber |title=A Handbook of Pali Literature |publisher=Munishiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. |edition=1st Indian |date=1997 |location=New Delhi |pages=83 |language=en |isbn=81-215-0778-2}}</ref> There are also a number of texts that are believed to have been composed in Pali in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Burma but were not widely circulated. This regional Pali literature is currently relatively little known, particularly in the Thai tradition, with many manuscripts never catalogued or published.<ref name=skilling/>