Pāli is the language of the scriptures of Theravada Buddhism, (the Pāli Canon or the Tipitaka in Pāli). The name Pāli means "line" or "(canonical) text", and probably comes from the commentarial traditions, wherein the "Pāli" (in the sense of the line of original text quoted) was distinguished from the commentary or the vernacular following after it on the manuscript page.