diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 8c42a2d..06cc547 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,4 +10,6 @@ take_mut = "0.1.3"
 itertools = "0.5.8"
 getopts = "*"
 linefeed = "0.2.2"
+lazy_static = "0.2.8"
+maplit = "*"
 
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 904bbe0..fb88419 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 #![feature(advanced_slice_patterns, slice_patterns, box_patterns)]
 extern crate getopts;
 extern crate linefeed;
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate lazy_static;
+#[macro_use]
+extern crate maplit;
 
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::fs::File;
diff --git a/src/schala_lang/mod.rs b/src/schala_lang/mod.rs
index 47462a1..b289055 100644
--- a/src/schala_lang/mod.rs
+++ b/src/schala_lang/mod.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ use language::{ProgrammingLanguageInterface, EvalOptions, TraceArtifact, ReplOut
 
 mod parsing;
 
-use self::parsing::TokenType;
-
 pub struct Schala { 
 }
 
diff --git a/src/schala_lang/parsing.rs b/src/schala_lang/parsing.rs
index 6241841..71460f6 100644
--- a/src/schala_lang/parsing.rs
+++ b/src/schala_lang/parsing.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 extern crate itertools;
 
 use language::{TokenError, ParseError};
+use std::collections::HashMap;
 use std::rc::Rc;
 use std::iter::{Enumerate, Peekable};
 use self::itertools::Itertools;
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ pub enum TokenType {
   Error(String),
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug)]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
 pub enum Kw {
   If,
   Else,
@@ -36,6 +37,14 @@ pub enum Kw {
   Loop,
 }
 
+lazy_static! {
+  static ref KEYWORDS: HashMap<&'static str, Kw> =
+    hashmap! {
+      "if" => Kw::If,
+      "else" => Kw::Else,
+    };
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct Token {
   token_type: TokenType,
@@ -85,7 +94,7 @@ pub fn tokenize(input: &str) -> Vec<Token> {
       '[' => LSquareBracket, ']' => RSquareBracket,
       '"' => handle_quote(&mut input),
       c if is_digit(&c) => handle_digit(c, &mut input),
-      c @ '_' | c if c.is_alphabetic() => handle_alphabetic(c, &mut input),
+      c @ '_' | c if c.is_alphabetic() => handle_alphabetic(c, &mut input), //TODO I'll probably have to rewrite this if I care about types being uppercase, also type parameterization
       c => handle_operator(c, &mut input),
     };
     tokens.push(Token { token_type: cur_tok_type, offset: idx });
@@ -135,7 +144,22 @@ fn handle_quote(input: &mut CharIter) -> TokenType {
 }
 
 fn handle_alphabetic(c: char, input: &mut CharIter) -> TokenType {
-  unimplemented!()
+  let mut buf = String::new();
+  buf.push(c);
+  loop {
+    match input.peek().map(|&(_, c)| { c }) {
+      Some(c) if c.is_alphanumeric() => {
+        input.next();
+        buf.push(c);
+      },
+      _ => break,
+    }
+  }
+
+  match KEYWORDS.get(buf.as_str()) {
+    Some(kw) => TokenType::Keyword(kw.clone()),
+    None => TokenType::Identifier(Rc::new(buf)),
+  }
 }
 
 fn handle_operator(c: char, input: &mut CharIter) -> TokenType {