Proto-Tai is the reconstructed common ancestor (proto-language) of all the Tai languages, including modern Lao, Shan, Lu, Tai Dam, Ahom, Northern Thai, Thai, Bouyei, and Zhuang. The Proto-Tai language is not directly attested by any surviving texts, but has been reconstructed using the comparative method.It has been reconstructed in 1977 by Fang-Kuei Li and by Pittayawat Pittayaporn in 2009.