Quick and simple questions on "textual parallels" which are neither quick nor simple

Q & A
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Here goes:

  1. What metric distinguishes a “parallel” from a “near-parallel”?
  2. Since “near-parallelism” is more of a spectrum than a single, quantifiable measurement (as is “parallelism,” if we are honest), a “near-parallel” must have a range with an opposite flank sharing its border with a third category of text which could not properly be classified as any manner of “parallel,” though it would certainly admit of some sort of organic relationship with those texts we’re classifying as “parallels” and/or “near-parallels”: what do we call those texts?
  3. And, finally, what determines the line of demarcation between this third category and the “near-parallels”?
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Have you reviewed this document?

https://suttacentral.net/methodology?lang=en#item2

2 Likes
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Thank you. No, I haven’t. I will directly.