diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index f47034bf1..7cd2e105d 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -299,625 +299,3 @@ static KeyBinding vis_mode_replace[] = {
 	{ /* empty last element, array terminator */                           },
 };
 
-/* Color definitions for use in the sytax highlighting rules below. A fore
- * or background color of -1 specifies the default terminal color. */
-enum {
-	COLOR_NOHILIT,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX0,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX1,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX2,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX3,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX4,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX5,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX6,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX7,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX8,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX9,
-	COLOR_SYNTAX_LAST, /* below are only aliases */
-	COLOR_KEYWORD      = COLOR_SYNTAX1,
-	COLOR_CONSTANT     = COLOR_SYNTAX4,
-	COLOR_DATATYPE     = COLOR_SYNTAX2,
-	COLOR_OPERATOR     = COLOR_SYNTAX2,
-	COLOR_CONTROL      = COLOR_SYNTAX3,
-	COLOR_PREPROCESSOR = COLOR_SYNTAX4,
-	COLOR_PRAGMA       = COLOR_SYNTAX4,
-	COLOR_KEYWORD2     = COLOR_SYNTAX4,
-	COLOR_BRACKETS     = COLOR_SYNTAX5,
-	COLOR_STRING       = COLOR_SYNTAX6,
-	COLOR_LITERAL      = COLOR_SYNTAX6,
-	COLOR_VARIABLE     = COLOR_SYNTAX6,
-	COLOR_TARGET       = COLOR_SYNTAX5,
-	COLOR_COMMENT      = COLOR_SYNTAX7,
-	COLOR_IDENTIFIER   = COLOR_SYNTAX8,
-	COLOR_TYPE         = COLOR_SYNTAX9,
-	COLOR_WHITESPACE   = COLOR_COMMENT,
-	COLOR_SPACES       = COLOR_WHITESPACE,
-	COLOR_TABS         = COLOR_WHITESPACE,
-	COLOR_EOL          = COLOR_WHITESPACE,
-	COLOR_EOF          = COLOR_WHITESPACE,
-};
-
-static const char *styles[] = {
-	[COLOR_NOHILIT] = "",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX0] = "fore:red,bold",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX1] = "fore:green,bold",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX2] = "fore:green",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX3] = "fore:magenta,bold",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX4] = "fore:magenta",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX5] = "fore:blue,bold",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX6] = "fore:red",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX7] = "fore:blue",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX8] = "fore:cyan",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX9] = "fore:yellow",
-	[COLOR_SYNTAX_LAST] = NULL,
-};
-
-/* Syntax color definitions per file type. Each rule consists of a regular
- * expression, a color to apply in case of a match and boolean flag inidcating
- * whether it is a multiline rule.
- *
- * The syntax rules where initially imported from the sandy editor, written by
- * Rafael Garcia  <rafael.garcia.gallego@gmail.com>
- */
-#define B "\\b"
-/* Use this if \b is not in your libc's regex implementation */
-// #define B "^| |\t|\\(|\\)|\\[|\\]|\\{|\\}|\\||$"
-
-/* common rules, used by multiple languages */
-
-#define SYNTAX_MULTILINE_COMMENT {    \
-	"(/\\*([^*]|\\*+[^*/])*\\*+/|/\\*([^*]|\\*+[^*/])*$|^([^/]|/+[^/*])*\\*/)", \
-	COLOR_COMMENT,                \
-	true, /* multiline */         \
-}
-
-#define SYNTAX_SINGLE_LINE_COMMENT { \
-	"(//.*)",                    \
-	COLOR_COMMENT,               \
-}
-
-#define SYNTAX_LITERAL {                             \
-	"('(\\\\.|.)')|"B"(0x[0-9A-Fa-f]+|[0-9]+)"B, \
-	COLOR_LITERAL,                               \
-}
-
-#define SYNTAX_STRING {         \
-	"(\"(\\\\.|[^\"])*\")", \
-	COLOR_STRING,           \
-	false, /* multiline */  \
-}
-
-#define SYNTAX_CONSTANT {        \
-	B"[A-Z_][0-9A-Z_]+"B,    \
-	COLOR_CONSTANT,          \
-}
-
-#define SYNTAX_BRACKET {             \
-	"(\\(|\\)|\\{|\\}|\\[|\\])", \
-	COLOR_BRACKETS,              \
-}
-
-#define SYNTAX_C_PREPROCESSOR { \
-	"(^#[\\t ]*(define|include(_next)?|(un|ifn?)def|endif|el(if|se)|if|warning|error|pragma)?)", \
-	COLOR_PREPROCESSOR, \
-}
-
-#define SYNTAX_SPACES    { "\xC2\xB7",     COLOR_SPACES }
-#define SYNTAX_TABS      { "\xE2\x96\xB6", COLOR_TABS   }
-#define SYNTAX_TABS_FILL { " ",            COLOR_TABS   }
-#define SYNTAX_EOL       { "\xE2\x8F\x8E", COLOR_EOL    }
-#define SYNTAX_EOF       { "~",            COLOR_EOF    }
-
-/* these rules are applied top to bottom, first match wins. Therefore more 'greedy'
- * rules such as for comments should be the first entries.
- *
- * The array of syntax definition must be terminated with an empty element.
- */
-static Syntax syntaxes[] = {{
-	.name = "c",
-	.file = "\\.(c(pp|xx)?|h(pp|xx)?|cc)$",
-	.settings = (const char*[]){
-		"set number",
-		"set autoindent",
-		"set show spaces=0 tabs=1 newlines=1",
-		NULL
-	},
-	.styles = styles,
-	.symbols = {
-		SYNTAX_SPACES,
-		SYNTAX_TABS,
-		SYNTAX_TABS_FILL,
-		SYNTAX_EOL,
-		SYNTAX_EOF,
-	},
-	.rules = {
-		SYNTAX_MULTILINE_COMMENT,
-		SYNTAX_SINGLE_LINE_COMMENT,
-		SYNTAX_LITERAL,
-		SYNTAX_STRING,
-		SYNTAX_CONSTANT,
-		SYNTAX_BRACKET,
-	{
-		"<[a-zA-Z0-9\\.\\-_/]+\\.(c(pp|xx)?|h(pp|xx)?|cc)>",
-		COLOR_STRING,
-	},
-		SYNTAX_C_PREPROCESSOR,
-	{
-		B"(for|if|while|do|else|case|default|switch|try|throw|catch|operator|new|delete)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		B"(float|double|bool|char|int|short|long|sizeof|enum|void|static|const|struct|union|"
-		"typedef|extern|(un)?signed|inline|((s?size)|((u_?)?int(8|16|32|64|ptr)))_t|class|"
-		"namespace|template|public|protected|private|typename|this|friend|virtual|using|"
-		"mutable|volatile|register|explicit)"B,
-		COLOR_DATATYPE,
-	},{
-		B"(goto|continue|break|return)"B,
-		COLOR_CONTROL,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "sh",
-	.file = "\\.sh$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {{
-		"#.*$",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-	},
-		SYNTAX_STRING,
-	{
-		"^[0-9A-Z_]+\\(\\)",
-		COLOR_CONSTANT,
-	},{
-		"\\$[?!@#$?*-]",
-		COLOR_VARIABLE,
-	},{
-		"\\$\\{[A-Za-z_][0-9A-Za-z_]+\\}",
-		COLOR_VARIABLE,
-	},{
-		"\\$[A-Za-z_][0-9A-Za-z_]+",
-		COLOR_VARIABLE,
-	},{
-		B"(case|do|done|elif|else|esac|exit|fi|for|function|if|in|local|read|return|select|shift|then|time|until|while)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		"(\\{|\\}|\\(|\\)|\\;|\\]|\\[|`|\\\\|\\$|<|>|!|=|&|\\|)",
-		COLOR_BRACKETS,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "makefile",
-	.file = "(Makefile[^/]*|\\.mk)$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {{
-		"#.*$",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-	},{
-		"\\$+[{(][a-zA-Z0-9_-]+[})]",
-		COLOR_VARIABLE,
-	},{
-		B"(if|ifeq|else|endif)"B,
-		COLOR_CONTROL,
-	},{
-		"^[^ 	]+:",
-		COLOR_TARGET,
-	},{
-		"[:(+?=)]",
-		COLOR_BRACKETS,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "man",
-	.file = "\\.[1-9]x?$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {{
-		"\\.(BR?|I[PR]?).*$",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX0,
-	},{
-		"\\.(S|T)H.*$",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX2,
-	},{
-		"\\.(br|DS|RS|RE|PD)",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX3,
-	},{
-		"(\\.(S|T)H|\\.TP)",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX4,
-	},{
-		"\\.(BR?|I[PR]?|PP)",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX5,
-	},{
-		"\\\\f[BIPR]",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX6,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "vala",
-	.file = "\\.(vapi|vala)$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {
-		SYNTAX_MULTILINE_COMMENT,
-		SYNTAX_SINGLE_LINE_COMMENT,
-		SYNTAX_LITERAL,
-		SYNTAX_STRING,
-		SYNTAX_CONSTANT,
-		SYNTAX_BRACKET,
-	{
-		B"(for|if|while|do|else|case|default|switch|get|set|value|out|ref|enum)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		B"(uint|uint8|uint16|uint32|uint64|bool|byte|ssize_t|size_t|char|double|string|float|int|long|short|this|base|transient|void|true|false|null|unowned|owned)"B,
-		COLOR_DATATYPE,
-	},{
-		B"(try|catch|throw|finally|continue|break|return|new|sizeof|signal|delegate)"B,
-		COLOR_CONTROL,
-	},{
-		B"(abstract|class|final|implements|import|instanceof|interface|using|private|public|static|strictfp|super|throws)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD2,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "java",
-	.file = "\\.java$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {
-		SYNTAX_MULTILINE_COMMENT,
-		SYNTAX_SINGLE_LINE_COMMENT,
-		SYNTAX_LITERAL,
-		SYNTAX_STRING,
-		SYNTAX_CONSTANT,
-		SYNTAX_BRACKET,
-	{
-		B"(for|if|while|do|else|case|default|switch)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		B"(boolean|byte|char|double|float|int|long|short|transient|void|true|false|null)"B,
-		COLOR_DATATYPE,
-	},{
-		B"(try|catch|throw|finally|continue|break|return|new)"B,
-		COLOR_CONTROL,
-	},{
-		B"(abstract|class|extends|final|implements|import|instanceof|interface|native|package|private|protected|public|static|strictfp|this|super|synchronized|throws|volatile)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD2,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "javascript",
-	.file = "\\.(js|json)$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {
-		SYNTAX_SINGLE_LINE_COMMENT,
-		SYNTAX_LITERAL,
-		SYNTAX_STRING,
-		SYNTAX_BRACKET,
-	{
-		B"(true|false|null|undefined)"B,
-		COLOR_DATATYPE,
-	},{
-		B"(NaN|Infinity)"B,
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		"(\"(\\\\.|[^\"])*\"|\'(\\\\.|[^\'])*\')",
-		COLOR_STRING,
-	},{
-		B"(for|if|while|do|in|else|case|default|switch|try|throw|catch|operator|new|delete)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		B"(continue|break|return)"B,
-		COLOR_CONTROL,
-	},{
-		B"(case|class|const|debugger|default|enum|export|extends|finally|function|implements|import|instanceof|let|this|typeof|var|with|yield)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD2,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "lua",
-	.file = "\\.lua$",
-	.settings = (const char*[]){
-		"set number",
-		"set autoindent",
-		NULL
-	},
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {{
-		"--\\[(=*)\\[([^]]*)\\](=*)\\]",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-		true,
-	},{
-		"--.*$",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-	},{
-		"(\\[(=*)\\[([^]]*)\\](=*)\\]|^([^][]*)\\](=*)\\])",
-		COLOR_STRING,
-		true,
-	},
-		SYNTAX_STRING,
-	{
-		B"([0-9]*\\.)?[0-9]+([eE]([\\+-])?[0-9]+)?"B,
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		B"0x[0-9a-fA-F]+"B,
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		B"(false|nil|true)"B,
-		COLOR_CONSTANT,
-	},{
-		"(\\.\\.\\.)",
-		COLOR_CONSTANT,
-	},{
-		B"(break|do|else|elseif|end|for|function|if|in|local|repeat|return|then|until|while)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		B"(and|not|or)"B,
-		COLOR_OPERATOR,
-	},{
-		"(\\+|-|\\*|/|%|\\^|#|[=~<>]=|<|>|\\.\\.)",
-		COLOR_OPERATOR,
-	},
-		SYNTAX_BRACKET,
-	}
-},{
-	.name = "ruby",
-	.file = "\\.rb$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {{
-		"(#[^{].*$|#$)",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-	},{
-		"(\\$|@|@@)?"B"[A-Z]+[0-9A-Z_a-z]*",
-		COLOR_VARIABLE,
-	},{
-		B"(__FILE__|__LINE__|BEGIN|END|alias|and|begin|break|case|class|def|defined\?|do|else|elsif|end|ensure|false|for|if|in|module|next|nil|not|or|redo|rescue|retry|return|self|super|then|true|undef|unless|until|when|while|yield)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		"([ 	]|^):[0-9A-Z_]+"B,
-		COLOR_SYNTAX2,
-	},{
-		"(/([^/]|(\\/))*/[iomx]*|%r\\{([^}]|(\\}))*\\}[iomx]*)",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX3,
-	},{
-		"(`[^`]*`|%x\\{[^}]*\\})",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX4,
-	},{
-		"(\"([^\"]|(\\\\\"))*\"|%[QW]?\\{[^}]*\\}|%[QW]?\\([^)]*\\)|%[QW]?<[^>]*>|%[QW]?\\[[^]]*\\]|%[QW]?\\$[^$]*\\$|%[QW]?\\^[^^]*\\^|%[QW]?![^!]*!|\'([^\']|(\\\\\'))*\'|%[qw]\\{[^}]*\\}|%[qw]\\([^)]*\\)|%[qw]<[^>]*>|%[qw]\\[[^]]*\\]|%[qw]\\$[^$]*\\$|%[qw]\\^[^^]*\\^|%[qw]![^!]*!)",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX5,
-	},{
-		"#\\{[^}]*\\}",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX6,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "python",
-	.file = "\\.py$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {{
-		"(#.*$|#$)",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-	},{
-		"(\"\"\".*\"\"\")",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-		true, /* multiline */
-	},{
-		B"(and|class|def|not|or|return|yield|is)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD2,
-	},{
-		B"(from|import|as)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		B"(if|elif|else|while|for|in|try|with|except|in|break|continue|finally)"B,
-		COLOR_CONTROL,
-	},{
-		B"(int|str|float|unicode|int|bool|chr|type|list|dict|tuple)",
-		COLOR_DATATYPE,
-	},{
-		"(True|False|None)",
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		B"[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+([eE][-+]?[0-9]+)?"B,
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		B"[0-9]+"B"|"B"0[xX][0-9a-fA-F]+"B"|"B"0[oO][0-7]+"B,
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		"(\"(\\\\.|[^\"])*\"|\'(\\\\.|[^\'])*\')",
-		COLOR_STRING,
-		false, /* multiline */  
-	},{
-		"(__init__|__str__|__unicode__|__gt__|__lt__|__eq__|__enter__|__exit__|__next__|__getattr__|__getitem__|__setitem__|__call__|__contains__|__iter__|__bool__|__all__|__name__)",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX2,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "php",
-	.file = "\\.php$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {
-		SYNTAX_MULTILINE_COMMENT,
-		SYNTAX_SINGLE_LINE_COMMENT,
-		SYNTAX_BRACKET,
-	{
-		"(#.*$|#$)",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-	},{
-		"(\"\"\".*\"\"\")",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-		true, /* multiline */
-	},{
-		B"(class|interface|extends|implements|new|__construct|__destruct|use|namespace|return)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD2,
-	},{
-		B"(public|private|protected|const|parent|function|->)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		B"(if|else|while|do|for|foreach|in|try|catch|finally|switch|case|default|break|continue|as|=>)"B,
-		COLOR_CONTROL,
-	},{
-		B"(array|true|false|null)",
-		COLOR_DATATYPE,
-	},{
-		B"[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+([eE][-+]?[0-9]+)?"B,
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		B"[0-9]+"B"|"B"0[xX][0-9a-fA-F]+"B"|"B"0[oO][0-7]+"B,
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		"\\$[a-zA-Z0-9_\\-]+",
-		COLOR_VARIABLE,
-	},{
-		"(\"(\\\\.|[^\"])*\"|\'(\\\\.|[^\'])*\')",
-		COLOR_STRING,
-		false, /* multiline */
-	},{
-		"(php|echo|print|var_dump|print_r)",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX2,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "haskell",
-	.file = "\\.hs$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {{
-		"\\{-#.*#-\\}",
-		COLOR_PRAGMA,
-	},{
-		"---*([^-!#$%&\\*\\+./<=>\?@\\^|~].*)?$",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-	}, {
-		// These are allowed to be nested, but we can't express that
-		// with regular expressions
-		"\\{-.*-\\}",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-		true
-	},
-		SYNTAX_STRING,
-		SYNTAX_C_PREPROCESSOR,
-	{
-		// as and hiding are only keywords when part of an import, but
-		// I don't want to highlight the whole import line.
-		// capture group coloring or similar would be nice
-		"(^import( qualified)?)|"B"(as|hiding|infix[lr]?)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD2,
-	},{
-		B"(module|class|data|deriving|instance|default|where|type|newtype)"B,
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		B"(do|case|of|let|in|if|then|else)"B,
-		COLOR_CONTROL,
-	},{
-		"('(\\\\.|.)')",
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		B"[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+([eE][-+]?[0-9]+)?"B,
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		B"[0-9]+"B"|"B"0[xX][0-9a-fA-F]+"B"|"B"0[oO][0-7]+"B,
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{
-		"("B"[A-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_']*\\.)*"B"[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_']*"B,
-		COLOR_NOHILIT,
-	},{
-		"("B"[A-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_']*\\.)?[-!#$%&\\*\\+/<=>\\?@\\\\^|~:.][-!#$%&\\*\\+/<=>\\?@\\\\^|~:.]*",
-		COLOR_OPERATOR,
-	},{
-		"`("B"[A-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_']*\\.)?[a-z][a-zA-Z0-9_']*`",
-		COLOR_OPERATOR,
-	},{
-		"\\(|\\)|\\[|\\]|,|;|_|\\{|\\}",
-		COLOR_BRACKETS,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "markdown",
-	.file = "\\.(md|mdwn)$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {{
-		"(^#{1,6}.*$)", //titles
-		COLOR_SYNTAX5,
-	},{
-		"((\\* *){3,}|(_ *){3,}|(- *){3,})", // horizontal rules
-		COLOR_SYNTAX2,
-	},{
-		"(\\*\\*.*\\*\\*)|(__.*__)", // super-bolds
-		COLOR_SYNTAX4,
-	},{
-		"(\\*.*\\*)|(_.*_)", // bolds
-		COLOR_SYNTAX3,
-	},{
-		"(\\[.*\\]\\(.*\\))", //links
-		COLOR_SYNTAX6,
-	},{
-		"(^ *([-\\*\\+]|[0-9]+\\.))", //lists
-		COLOR_SYNTAX2,
-	},{
-		"(^( {4,}|\t+).*$)", // code blocks
-		COLOR_SYNTAX7,
-	},{
-		"(`+.*`+)", // inline code
-		COLOR_SYNTAX7,
-	},{
-		"(^>+.*)", // quotes
-		COLOR_SYNTAX7,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "ledger",
-	.file = "\\.(journal|ledger)$",
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {
-	{ /* comment */
-		"^[;#].*",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-	},{ /* value tag */
-		"(  |\t|^ )*; :([^ ][^:]*:)+[ \\t]*$",
-		COLOR_DATATYPE,
-	},{ /* typed tag */
-		"(  |\t|^ )*; [^:]+::.*",
-		COLOR_DATATYPE,
-	},{ /* tag */
-		"(  |\t|^ )*; [^:]+:.*",
-		COLOR_TYPE,
-	},{ /* metadata */
-		"(  |\t|^ )*;.*",
-		COLOR_CONSTANT,
-	},{ /* date */
-		"^[0-9][^ \t]+",
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{ /* account */
-		"^[ \t]+[a-zA-Z:'!*()%&]+",
-		COLOR_IDENTIFIER,
-	},{ /* amount */
-		"(  |\t)[^;]*",
-		COLOR_LITERAL,
-	},{ /* automated transaction */
-		"^[=~].*",
-		COLOR_TYPE,
-	},{ /* directives */
-		"^[!@]?(account|alias|assert|bucket|capture|check|comment|commodity|define|end|fixed|endfixed|include|payee|apply|tag|test|year|[AYNDCIiOobh])"B".*",
-		COLOR_DATATYPE,
-	}}
-},{
-	.name = "apl",
-	.file = "\\.apl$",
-	.settings = (const char*[]){
-		"set number",
-		NULL
-	},
-	.styles = styles,
-	.rules = {{
-		"(⍝|#).*$",
-		COLOR_COMMENT,
-	},{
-		"('([^']|'')*')|(\"([^\"]|\"\")*\")",
-		COLOR_STRING,
-	},{
-		"^ *(∇|⍫)",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX9,
-	},{
-		"(⎕[a-zA-Z]*)|[⍞χ⍺⍶⍵⍹]",
-		COLOR_KEYWORD,
-	},{
-		"[∆⍙_a-zA-Z][∆⍙_¯a-zA-Z0-9]* *:",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX2,
-	},{
-		"[∆⍙_a-zA-Z][∆⍙_¯a-zA-Z0-9]*",
-		COLOR_IDENTIFIER,
-	},{
-		"¯?(([0-9]+(\\.[0-9]+)?)|\\.[0-9]+)([eE]¯?[0-9]+)?([jJ]¯?(([0-9]+(\\.[0-9]+)?)|\\.[0-9]+)([eE]¯?[0-9]+)?)?",
-		COLOR_CONSTANT,
-	},{
-		"[][(){}]",
-		COLOR_BRACKETS,
-	},{
-		"[←→◊]",
-		COLOR_SYNTAX3,
-	}}
-},{
-	/* empty last element, array terminator */
-}};
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 6389c344f..fc3877aec 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -1584,9 +1584,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 			vis_die(vis, "Could not load default bindings\n");
 	}
 
-	if (!vis_syntax_load(vis, syntaxes))
-		vis_die(vis, "Could not load syntax highlighting definitions\n");
-
 	/* install signal handlers etc. */
 	struct sigaction sa;
 	memset(&sa, 0, sizeof sa);
diff --git a/syntax.h b/syntax.h
index 8ce623eb4..35be0249b 100644
--- a/syntax.h
+++ b/syntax.h
@@ -1,15 +1,6 @@
 #ifndef SYNTAX_H
 #define SYNTAX_H
 
-#include <regex.h>
-
-typedef struct {
-	char *rule;     /* regex to search for */
-	int style;      /* settings to apply in case of a match */
-	bool multiline; /* whether . should match new lines */
-	regex_t regex;  /* compiled form of the above rule */
-} SyntaxRule;
-
 typedef struct {
 	char *symbol;
 	int style;
@@ -24,15 +15,4 @@ enum {
 	SYNTAX_SYMBOL_LAST,
 };
 
-typedef struct Syntax Syntax;
-struct Syntax {               /* a syntax definition */
-	char *name;           /* syntax name */
-	char *file;           /* apply to files matching this regex */
-	regex_t file_regex;   /* compiled file name regex */
-	const char **settings;/* settings associated with this file type */
-	const char **styles;  /* settings associated with this file type */
-	SyntaxSymbol symbols[SYNTAX_SYMBOL_LAST]; /* symbols for white space handling */
-	SyntaxRule rules[24]; /* all rules for this file type */
-};
-
 #endif
diff --git a/view.c b/view.c
index 0491c7842..2f5aa47ab 100644
--- a/view.c
+++ b/view.c
@@ -67,7 +67,6 @@ struct View {
 	Cursor *cursor;     /* main cursor, always placed within the visible viewport */
 	Line *line;         /* used while drawing view content, line where next char will be drawn */
 	int col;            /* used while drawing view content, column where next char will be drawn */
-	Syntax *syntax;     /* syntax highlighting definitions for this view or NULL */
 	const SyntaxSymbol *symbols[SYNTAX_SYMBOL_LAST]; /* symbols to use for white spaces etc */
 	int tabwidth;       /* how many spaces should be used to display a tab character */
 	Cursor *cursors;    /* all cursors currently active */
@@ -346,11 +345,6 @@ void view_draw(View *view) {
 	text[rem] = '\0';
 	/* current position into buffer from which to interpret a character */
 	char *cur = text;
-	/* syntax definition to use */
-	Syntax *syntax = view->syntax;
-	/* matched tokens for each syntax rule */
-	regmatch_t match[syntax ? LENGTH(syntax->rules) : 1][1], *matched = NULL;
-	memset(match, 0, sizeof match);
 	/* default and current curses attributes to use */
 	int default_attrs = 0, attrs = default_attrs;
 	/* start from known multibyte state */
@@ -362,52 +356,6 @@ void view_draw(View *view) {
 		wchar_t wchar;
 		Cell cell;
 		memset(&cell, 0, sizeof cell);
-	
-		if (syntax) {
-			if (matched && cur >= text + matched->rm_eo) {
-				/* end of current match */
-				matched = NULL;
-				attrs = default_attrs;
-				for (int i = 0; i < LENGTH(syntax->rules); i++) {
-					if (match[i][0].rm_so == -1)
-						continue; /* no match on whole text */
-					/* reset matches which overlap with matched */
-					if (text + match[i][0].rm_so <= cur && cur < text + match[i][0].rm_eo) {
-						match[i][0].rm_so = 0;
-						match[i][0].rm_eo = 0;
-					}
-				}
-			}
-
-			if (!matched) {
-				size_t off = cur - text; /* number of already processed bytes */
-				for (int i = 0; i < LENGTH(syntax->rules); i++) {
-					SyntaxRule *rule = &syntax->rules[i];
-					if (!rule->rule)
-						break;
-					if (match[i][0].rm_so == -1)
-						continue; /* no match on whole text */
-					if (off >= (size_t)match[i][0].rm_eo) {
-						/* past match, continue search from current position */
-						if (regexec(&rule->regex, cur, 1, match[i], 0) ||
-						    match[i][0].rm_so == match[i][0].rm_eo) {
-							match[i][0].rm_so = -1;
-							match[i][0].rm_eo = -1;
-							continue;
-						}
-						match[i][0].rm_so += off;
-						match[i][0].rm_eo += off;
-					}
-
-					if (text + match[i][0].rm_so <= cur && cur < text + match[i][0].rm_eo) {
-						/* within matched expression */
-						matched = &match[i][0];
-						attrs = rule->style;
-						break; /* first match views */
-					}
-				}
-			}
-		}
 
 		size_t len = mbrtowc(&wchar, cur, rem, &mbstate);
 		if (len == (size_t)-1 && errno == EILSEQ) {
@@ -504,7 +452,7 @@ void view_draw(View *view) {
 		size_t pos = view_cursors_pos(c);
 		if (view_coord_get(view, pos, &c->line, &c->row, &c->col)) {
 			c->line->cells[c->col].cursor = true;
-			if (view->ui && view->syntax) {
+			if (view->ui) {
 				Line *line_match; int col_match;
 				size_t pos_match = text_bracket_match_except(view->text, pos, "<>");
 				if (pos != pos_match && view_coord_get(view, pos_match, &line_match, NULL, &col_match)) {
@@ -834,23 +782,12 @@ void view_scroll_to(View *view, size_t pos) {
 	view_cursors_scroll_to(view->cursor, pos);
 }
 
-void view_syntax_set(View *view, Syntax *syntax) {
-	view->syntax = syntax;
-	for (int i = 0; i < LENGTH(view->symbols); i++) {
-		if (syntax && syntax->symbols[i].symbol)
-			view->symbols[i] = &syntax->symbols[i];
-		else
-			view->symbols[i] = &symbols_none[i];
-	}
-	if (syntax) {
-		for (const char **style = syntax->styles; *style; style++) {
-			view->ui->syntax_style(view->ui, style - syntax->styles, *style);
-		}
-	}
+bool view_syntax_set(View *view, const char *name) {
+	return false;
 }
 
-Syntax *view_syntax_get(View *view) {
-	return view->syntax;
+const char *view_syntax_get(View *view) {
+	return NULL;
 }
 
 void view_options_set(View *view, enum UiOption options) {
@@ -862,14 +799,8 @@ void view_options_set(View *view, enum UiOption options) {
 		[SYNTAX_SYMBOL_EOF]      = UI_OPTION_SYMBOL_EOF,
 	};
 	for (int i = 0; i < LENGTH(mapping); i++) {
-		if (options & mapping[i]) {
-			if (view->syntax && view->syntax->symbols[i].symbol)
-				view->symbols[i] = &view->syntax->symbols[i];
-			else
-				view->symbols[i] = &symbols_default[i];
-		} else {
-			view->symbols[i] = &symbols_none[i];
-		}
+		view->symbols[i] = (options & mapping[i]) ? &symbols_default[i] :
+			&symbols_none[i];
 	}
 	if (view->ui)
 		view->ui->options_set(view->ui, options);
diff --git a/view.h b/view.h
index 70b64d6ec..a9f7ec995 100644
--- a/view.h
+++ b/view.h
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@ Filerange view_viewport_get(View*);
 bool view_viewport_up(View *view, int n);
 bool view_viewport_down(View *view, int n);
 /* associate a set of syntax highlighting rules to this window. */
-void view_syntax_set(View*, Syntax*);
-Syntax *view_syntax_get(View*);
+bool view_syntax_set(View*, const char *name);
+const char *view_syntax_get(View*);
 
 void view_options_set(View*, enum UiOption options);
 enum UiOption view_options_get(View*);
diff --git a/vis-cmds.c b/vis-cmds.c
index a25c5e928..8b4e80536 100644
--- a/vis-cmds.c
+++ b/vis-cmds.c
@@ -246,25 +246,20 @@ static bool cmd_set(Vis *vis, Filerange *range, enum CmdOpt cmdopt, const char *
 		break;
 	case OPTION_SYNTAX:
 		if (!argv[2]) {
-			Syntax *syntax = view_syntax_get(vis->win->view);
+			const char *syntax = view_syntax_get(vis->win->view);
 			if (syntax)
-				vis_info_show(vis, "Syntax definition in use: `%s'", syntax->name);
+				vis_info_show(vis, "Syntax definition in use: `%s'", syntax);
 			else
 				vis_info_show(vis, "No syntax definition in use");
 			return true;
 		}
 
-		for (Syntax *syntax = vis->syntaxes; syntax && syntax->name; syntax++) {
-			if (!strcasecmp(syntax->name, argv[2])) {
-				view_syntax_set(vis->win->view, syntax);
-				return true;
-			}
-		}
-
 		if (parse_bool(argv[2], &arg.b) && !arg.b)
-			view_syntax_set(vis->win->view, NULL);
-		else
+			return view_syntax_set(vis->win->view, NULL);
+		if (!view_syntax_set(vis->win->view, argv[2])) {
 			vis_info_show(vis, "Unknown syntax definition: `%s'", argv[2]);
+			return false;
+		}
 		break;
 	case OPTION_SHOW:
 		if (!argv[2]) {
diff --git a/vis-core.h b/vis-core.h
index 052222ee4..ceb131113 100644
--- a/vis-core.h
+++ b/vis-core.h
@@ -128,7 +128,6 @@ struct Vis {
 	File *files;                         /* all files currently managed by this editor instance */
 	Win *windows;                        /* all windows currently managed by this editor instance */
 	Win *win;                            /* currently active/focused window */
-	Syntax *syntaxes;                    /* NULL terminated array of syntax definitions */
 	Register registers[VIS_REG_INVALID]; /* registers used for yank and put */
 	Macro macros[VIS_MACRO_INVALID];     /* recorded macros */
 	Macro *recording, *last_recording;   /* currently (if non NULL) and least recently recorded macro */
diff --git a/vis-motions.c b/vis-motions.c
index bbd509e4c..754b132e6 100644
--- a/vis-motions.c
+++ b/vis-motions.c
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#include <regex.h>
 #include "vis-core.h"
 #include "text-motions.h"
 #include "text-objects.h"
diff --git a/vis.c b/vis.c
index b9d664f44..377b6a9a8 100644
--- a/vis.c
+++ b/vis.c
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <limits.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <time.h>
+#include <regex.h>
 #include <sys/select.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/wait.h>
@@ -124,18 +125,6 @@ void vis_window_name(Win *win, const char *filename) {
 		free((char*)file->name);
 		file->name = filename ? strdup(filename) : NULL;
 	}
-	
-	if (filename) {
-		Vis *vis = win->vis;
-		for (Syntax *syn = vis->syntaxes; syn && syn->name; syn++) {
-			if (!regexec(&syn->file_regex, filename, 0, NULL, 0)) {
-				view_syntax_set(win->view, syn);
-				for (const char **opt = syn->settings; opt && *opt; opt++)
-					vis_cmd(vis, *opt);
-				break;
-			}
-		}
-	}
 }
 
 static void windows_invalidate(Vis *vis, size_t start, size_t end) {
@@ -245,42 +234,6 @@ void vis_window_prev(Vis *vis) {
 	vis->ui->window_focus(vis->win->ui);
 }
 
-bool vis_syntax_load(Vis *vis, Syntax *syntaxes) {
-	bool success = true;
-	vis->syntaxes = syntaxes;
-
-	for (Syntax *syn = syntaxes; syn && syn->name; syn++) {
-		if (regcomp(&syn->file_regex, syn->file, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB|REG_ICASE|REG_NEWLINE))
-			success = false;
-		for (int j = 0; j < LENGTH(syn->rules); j++) {
-			SyntaxRule *rule = &syn->rules[j];
-			if (!rule->rule)
-				break;
-			int cflags = REG_EXTENDED;
-			if (!rule->multiline)
-				cflags |= REG_NEWLINE;
-			if (regcomp(&rule->regex, rule->rule, cflags))
-				success = false;
-		}
-	}
-
-	return success;
-}
-
-void vis_syntax_unload(Vis *vis) {
-	for (Syntax *syn = vis->syntaxes; syn && syn->name; syn++) {
-		regfree(&syn->file_regex);
-		for (int j = 0; j < LENGTH(syn->rules); j++) {
-			SyntaxRule *rule = &syn->rules[j];
-			if (!rule->rule)
-				break;
-			regfree(&rule->regex);
-		}
-	}
-
-	vis->syntaxes = NULL;
-}
-
 void vis_draw(Vis *vis) {
 	vis->ui->draw(vis->ui);
 }
@@ -374,7 +327,6 @@ void vis_free(Vis *vis) {
 		register_release(&vis->registers[i]);
 	for (int i = 0; i < LENGTH(vis->macros); i++)
 		macro_release(&vis->macros[i]);
-	vis_syntax_unload(vis);
 	vis->ui->free(vis->ui);
 	map_free(vis->cmds);
 	map_free(vis->options);
diff --git a/vis.h b/vis.h
index 2834fbd04..058113820 100644
--- a/vis.h
+++ b/vis.h
@@ -51,14 +51,6 @@ void vis_update(Vis*);
 /* temporarily supsend the editor process, resumes upon receiving SIGCONT */
 void vis_suspend(Vis*);
 
-/* load a set of syntax highlighting definitions which will be associated
- * to the underlying window based on the file type loaded.
- *
- * The parameter `syntaxes' has to point to a NULL terminated array.
- */
-bool vis_syntax_load(Vis*, Syntax *syntaxes);
-void vis_syntax_unload(Vis*);
-
 /* creates a new window, and loads the given file. if filename is NULL
  * an unamed / empty buffer is created. If the given file is already opened
  * in another window, share the underlying text that is changes will be