Lit. Pāli

An ancient language of the Indian sub-continent, widely known for its use in the The Pali Canon: the first canonical transcriptions of the teachings of The Buddha some ~400 years after his death. Prior to these transcriptions, the teachings of early Buddhism were maintained in an oral tradition.

Pali was a written language, or a 'language of text'.

Aside: Did the Buddha speak Pali?

(Emphasis and cross-linking my own).

... the actual language of the Buddha and origins of Pāli are unknown, [but] the existence of Pāli literatures in which the words of The Buddha and his immediate disciples were enshrined is of immense value to the students of Buddhist philosophy, psychology, ... and so forth.

Source: "Did the Buddha Speak Pāli?" by Chipamong Chowdhury.