diff --git a/Parser.js b/Parser.js
index 6e5d3dc30..28eb38658 100644
--- a/Parser.js
+++ b/Parser.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 var Lexer = require("./Lexer");
 var utils = require("./utils");
+var symbols = require("./symbols");
 
 var ParseError = require("./ParseError");
 
@@ -189,155 +190,13 @@ var sizeFuncs = [
     "\\large", "\\Large", "\\LARGE", "\\huge", "\\Huge"
 ];
 
-// A map of elements that don't have arguments, and should simply be placed
-// into a group depending on their type. The keys are the groups that items can
-// be placed in, and the values are lists of element types that should be
-// placed in those groups.
-//
-// For example, if the lexer returns something of type "colon", we should
-// return a node of type "punct"
-var copyFuncs = {
-    "textord": [
-        "textord",
-        "\\$",
-        "\\%",
-        "\\angle",
-        "\\infty",
-        "\\prime",
-        "\\triangle",
-        "\\Gamma",
-        "\\Delta",
-        "\\Theta",
-        "\\Lambda",
-        "\\Xi",
-        "\\Pi",
-        "\\Sigma",
-        "\\Upsilon",
-        "\\Phi",
-        "\\Psi",
-        "\\Omega"
-    ],
-    "mathord": [
-        "mathord",
-        "\\alpha",
-        "\\beta",
-        "\\gamma",
-        "\\delta",
-        "\\epsilon",
-        "\\zeta",
-        "\\eta",
-        "\\theta",
-        "\\iota",
-        "\\kappa",
-        "\\lambda",
-        "\\mu",
-        "\\nu",
-        "\\xi",
-        "\\omicron",
-        "\\pi",
-        "\\rho",
-        "\\sigma",
-        "\\tau",
-        "\\upsilon",
-        "\\phi",
-        "\\chi",
-        "\\psi",
-        "\\omega",
-        "\\varepsilon",
-        "\\vartheta",
-        "\\varpi",
-        "\\varrho",
-        "\\varsigma",
-        "\\varphi"
-    ],
-    "bin": [
-        "bin",
-        "\\cdot",
-        "\\circ",
-        "\\div",
-        "\\pm",
-        "\\times"
-    ],
-    "open": [
-        "open",
-        "\\langle",
-        "\\lvert"
-    ],
-    "close": [
-        "close",
-        "\\rangle",
-        "\\rvert"
-    ],
-    "rel": [
-        "rel",
-        "\\approx",
-        "\\cong",
-        "\\ge",
-        "\\geq",
-        "\\gets",
-        "\\in",
-        "\\leftarrow",
-        "\\le",
-        "\\leq",
-        "\\ne",
-        "\\neq",
-        "\\rightarrow",
-        "\\to"
-    ],
-    "amsrel": [
-        "\\ngeq",
-        "\\nleq"
-    ],
-    "spacing": [
-        "\\!",
-        "\\ ",
-        "\\,",
-        "\\:",
-        "\\;",
-        "\\enspace",
-        "\\qquad",
-        "\\quad",
-        "\\space"
-    ],
-    "punct": [
-        "punct",
-        "\\colon"
-    ],
-    "namedfn": [
-        "\\arcsin",
-        "\\arccos",
-        "\\arctan",
-        "\\arg",
-        "\\cos",
-        "\\cosh",
-        "\\cot",
-        "\\coth",
-        "\\csc",
-        "\\deg",
-        "\\dim",
-        "\\exp",
-        "\\hom",
-        "\\ker",
-        "\\lg",
-        "\\ln",
-        "\\log",
-        "\\sec",
-        "\\sin",
-        "\\sinh",
-        "\\tan",
-        "\\tanh"
-    ]
-};
-
-// Build a list of all of the different functions in the copyFuncs list, to
-// quickly check if the function should be interpreted by the map.
-var funcToType = {};
-for (var type in copyFuncs) {
-    for (var i = 0; i < copyFuncs[type].length; i++) {
-        var func = copyFuncs[type][i];
-        funcToType[func] = type;
-    }
-}
+// A list of math functions replaced by their names
+var namedFns = [
+    "\\arcsin", "\\arccos", "\\arctan", "\\arg", "\\cos", "\\cosh",
+    "\\cot", "\\coth", "\\csc", "\\deg", "\\dim", "\\exp", "\\hom",
+    "\\ker", "\\lg", "\\ln", "\\log", "\\sec", "\\sin", "\\sinh",
+    "\\tan","\\tanh"
+];
 
 // Parses a "nucleus", which is either a single token from the tokenizer or a
 // function and its arguments
@@ -376,6 +235,11 @@ Parser.prototype.parseNucleus = function(pos) {
             throw new ParseError(
                 "Expected group after '" + nucleus.text + "'");
         }
+    } else if (utils.contains(namedFns, nucleus.type)) {
+        // If this is a named function, just return it plain
+        return new ParseResult(
+            new ParseNode("namedfn", nucleus.text),
+            nucleus.position);
     } else if (nucleus.type === "\\llap" || nucleus.type === "\\rlap") {
         // If this is an llap or rlap, parse its argument and return
         var group = this.parseGroup(nucleus.position);
@@ -410,15 +274,16 @@ Parser.prototype.parseNucleus = function(pos) {
                 nucleus.type + "'");
         }
     } else if (nucleus.type === "\\KaTeX") {
+        // If this is a KaTeX node, return the special katex result
         return new ParseResult(
             new ParseNode("katex", null),
             nucleus.position
         );
-    } else if (funcToType[nucleus.type]) {
+    } else if (symbols[nucleus.text]) {
         // Otherwise if this is a no-argument function, find the type it
-        // corresponds to in the map and return
+        // corresponds to in the symbols map
         return new ParseResult(
-            new ParseNode(funcToType[nucleus.type], nucleus.text),
+            new ParseNode(symbols[nucleus.text].group, nucleus.text),
             nucleus.position);
     } else {
         // Otherwise, we couldn't parse it
diff --git a/buildTree.js b/buildTree.js
index ffe803d86..4bb0608b4 100644
--- a/buildTree.js
+++ b/buildTree.js
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ var domTree = require("./domTree");
 var fontMetrics = require("./fontMetrics");
 var parseTree = require("./parseTree");
 var utils = require("./utils");
+var symbols = require("./symbols");
 
 var buildExpression = function(expression, options, prev) {
     var groups = [];
@@ -406,91 +407,9 @@ var buildGroup = function(group, options, prev) {
     }
 };
 
-var charLookup = {
-    "*": "\u2217",
-    "-": "\u2212",
-    "`": "\u2018",
-    "\\ ": "\u00a0",
-    "\\$": "$",
-    "\\%": "%",
-    "\\angle": "\u2220",
-    "\\approx": "\u2248",
-    "\\cdot": "\u22c5",
-    "\\circ": "\u2218",
-    "\\colon": ":",
-    "\\cong": "\u2245",
-    "\\div": "\u00f7",
-    "\\ge": "\u2265",
-    "\\geq": "\u2265",
-    "\\gets": "\u2190",
-    "\\in": "\u2208",
-    "\\infty": "\u221e",
-    "\\langle": "\u27e8",
-    "\\leftarrow": "\u2190",
-    "\\le": "\u2264",
-    "\\leq": "\u2264",
-    "\\lvert": "|",
-    "\\ne": "\u2260",
-    "\\neq": "\u2260",
-    "\\ngeq": "\u2271",
-    "\\nleq": "\u2270",
-    "\\pm": "\u00b1",
-    "\\prime": "\u2032",
-    "\\rangle": "\u27e9",
-    "\\rightarrow": "\u2192",
-    "\\rvert": "|",
-    "\\space": "\u00a0",
-    "\\times": "\u00d7",
-    "\\to": "\u2192",
-    "\\triangle": "\u25b3",
-
-    "\\alpha": "\u03b1",
-    "\\beta": "\u03b2",
-    "\\gamma": "\u03b3",
-    "\\delta": "\u03b4",
-    "\\epsilon": "\u03f5",
-    "\\zeta": "\u03b6",
-    "\\eta": "\u03b7",
-    "\\theta": "\u03b8",
-    "\\iota": "\u03b9",
-    "\\kappa": "\u03ba",
-    "\\lambda": "\u03bb",
-    "\\mu": "\u03bc",
-    "\\nu": "\u03bd",
-    "\\xi": "\u03be",
-    "\\omicron": "o",
-    "\\pi": "\u03c0",
-    "\\rho": "\u03c1",
-    "\\sigma": "\u03c3",
-    "\\tau": "\u03c4",
-    "\\upsilon": "\u03c5",
-    "\\phi": "\u03d5",
-    "\\chi": "\u03c7",
-    "\\psi": "\u03c8",
-    "\\omega": "\u03c9",
-    "\\varepsilon": "\u03b5",
-    "\\vartheta": "\u03d1",
-    "\\varpi": "\u03d6",
-    "\\varrho": "\u03f1",
-    "\\varsigma": "\u03c2",
-    "\\varphi": "\u03c6",
-
-    "\\Gamma": "\u0393",
-    "\\Delta": "\u0394",
-    "\\Theta": "\u0398",
-    "\\Lambda": "\u039b",
-    "\\Xi": "\u039e",
-    "\\Pi": "\u03a0",
-    "\\Sigma": "\u03a3",
-    "\\Upsilon": "\u03a5",
-    "\\Phi": "\u03a6",
-    "\\Psi": "\u03a8",
-    "\\Omega": "\u03a9"
-};
-
 var makeText = function(value, style) {
-    if (value in charLookup) {
-        value = charLookup[value];
+    if (symbols[value].replace) {
+        value = symbols[value].replace;
     }
 
     var metrics = fontMetrics.getCharacterMetrics(value, style);
@@ -518,11 +437,11 @@ var mathit = function(value) {
 };
 
 var mathrm = function(value) {
-    return makeText(value, "main-regular");
-};
-
-var amsrm = function(value) {
-    return makeSpan(["amsrm"], [makeText(value, "ams-regular")]);
+    if (symbols[value].font === "main") {
+        return makeText(value, "main-regular");
+    } else {
+        return makeSpan(["amsrm"], [makeText(value, "ams-regular")]);
+    }
 };
 
 var buildTree = function(tree) {
diff --git a/symbols.js b/symbols.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0f0d28d1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/symbols.js
@@ -0,0 +1,574 @@
+/* This file holds a list of all no-argument functions and single-character
+ * symbols (like 'a' or ';'). For each of the symbols, there are three
+ * properties they can have:
+ * - font (required): the font to be used for this * symbol. Either "main" (the
+     normal font), or "ams" (the ams fonts)
+ * - group (required): the ParseNode group type the symbol should have (i.e.
+     "textord" or "mathord" or
+ * - replace (optiona): the character that this symbol or function should be
+ *   replaced with (i.e. "\phi" has a replace value of "\u03d5", the phi
+ *   character in the main font)
+ */
+
+var symbols = {
+    "`": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u2018"
+    },
+    "\\$": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "$"
+    },
+    "\\%": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "%"
+    },
+    "\\angle": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u2220"
+    },
+    "\\infty": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u221e"
+    },
+    "\\prime": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u2032"
+    },
+    "\\triangle": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u25b3"
+    },
+    "\\Gamma": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u0393"
+    },
+    "\\Delta": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u0394"
+    },
+    "\\Theta": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u0398"
+    },
+    "\\Lambda": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u039b"
+    },
+    "\\Xi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u039e"
+    },
+    "\\Pi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u03a0"
+    },
+    "\\Sigma": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u03a3"
+    },
+    "\\Upsilon": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u03a5"
+    },
+    "\\Phi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u03a6"
+    },
+    "\\Psi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u03a8"
+    },
+    "\\Omega": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u03a9"
+    },
+    "\\alpha": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03b1"
+    },
+    "\\beta": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03b2"
+    },
+    "\\gamma": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03b3"
+    },
+    "\\delta": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03b4"
+    },
+    "\\epsilon": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03f5"
+    },
+    "\\zeta": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03b6"
+    },
+    "\\eta": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03b7"
+    },
+    "\\theta": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03b8"
+    },
+    "\\iota": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03b9"
+    },
+    "\\kappa": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03ba"
+    },
+    "\\lambda": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03bb"
+    },
+    "\\mu": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03bc"
+    },
+    "\\nu": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03bd"
+    },
+    "\\xi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03be"
+    },
+    "\\omicron": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "o"
+    },
+    "\\pi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03c0"
+    },
+    "\\rho": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03c1"
+    },
+    "\\sigma": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03c3"
+    },
+    "\\tau": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03c4"
+    },
+    "\\upsilon": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03c5"
+    },
+    "\\phi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03d5"
+    },
+    "\\chi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03c7"
+    },
+    "\\psi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03c8"
+    },
+    "\\omega": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03c9"
+    },
+    "\\varepsilon": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03b5"
+    },
+    "\\vartheta": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03d1"
+    },
+    "\\varpi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03d6"
+    },
+    "\\varrho": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03f1"
+    },
+    "\\varsigma": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03c2"
+    },
+    "\\varphi": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord",
+        replace: "\u03c6"
+    },
+    "*": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "bin",
+        replace: "\u2217"
+    },
+    "+": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "bin"
+    },
+    "-": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "bin",
+        replace: "\u2212"
+    },
+    "\\cdot": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "bin",
+        replace: "\u22c5"
+    },
+    "\\circ": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "bin",
+        replace: "\u2218"
+    },
+    "\\div": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "bin",
+        replace: "\u00f7"
+    },
+    "\\pm": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "bin",
+        replace: "\u00b1"
+    },
+    "\\times": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "bin",
+        replace: "\u00d7"
+    },
+    "(": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "open"
+    },
+    "[": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "open"
+    },
+    "\\langle": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "open",
+        replace: "\u27e8"
+    },
+    "\\lvert": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "open",
+        replace: "|"
+    },
+    ")": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "close"
+    },
+    "]": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "close"
+    },
+    "?": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "close"
+    },
+    "!": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "close"
+    },
+    "\\rangle": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "close",
+        replace: "\u27e9"
+    },
+    "\\rvert": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "close",
+        replace: "|"
+    },
+    "=": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel"
+    },
+    "<": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel"
+    },
+    ">": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel"
+    },
+    ":": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel"
+    },
+    "\\approx": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2248"
+    },
+    "\\cong": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2245"
+    },
+    "\\ge": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2265"
+    },
+    "\\geq": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2265"
+    },
+    "\\gets": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2190"
+    },
+    "\\in": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2208"
+    },
+    "\\leftarrow": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2190"
+    },
+    "\\le": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2264"
+    },
+    "\\leq": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2264"
+    },
+    "\\ne": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2260"
+    },
+    "\\neq": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2260"
+    },
+    "\\rightarrow": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2192"
+    },
+    "\\to": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2192"
+    },
+    "\\ngeq": {
+        font: "ams",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2271"
+    },
+    "\\nleq": {
+        font: "ams",
+        group: "rel",
+        replace: "\u2270"
+    },
+    "\\!": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "spacing"
+    },
+    "\\ ": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "spacing",
+        replace: "\u00a0"
+    },
+    "\\,": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "spacing"
+    },
+    "\\:": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "spacing"
+    },
+    "\\;": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "spacing"
+    },
+    "\\enspace": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "spacing"
+    },
+    "\\qquad": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "spacing"
+    },
+    "\\quad": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "spacing"
+    },
+    "\\space": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "spacing",
+        replace: "\u00a0"
+    },
+    ",": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "punct"
+    },
+    ";": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "punct"
+    },
+    "\\colon": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "punct",
+        replace: ":"
+    },
+    "\\barwedge": {
+        font: "ams",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u22bc"
+    },
+    "\\veebar": {
+        font: "ams",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u22bb"
+    },
+    "\\odot": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u2299"
+    },
+    "\\oplus": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u2295"
+    },
+    "\\otimes": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u2297"
+    },
+    "\\oslash": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u2298"
+    },
+    "\\circledcirc": {
+        font: "ams",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u229a"
+    },
+    "\\boxdot": {
+        font: "ams",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u22a1"
+    },
+    "\\bigtriangleup": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u25b3"
+    },
+    "\\bigtriangledown": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u25bd"
+    },
+    "\\dagger": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u2020"
+    },
+    "\\diamond": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u22c4"
+    },
+    "\\star": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u22c6"
+    },
+    "\\triangleleft": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u25c3"
+    },
+    "\\triangleright": {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord",
+        replace: "\u25b9"
+    }
+};
+
+var textSymbols = "0123456789/|@.\"";
+for (var i = 0; i < textSymbols.length; i++) {
+    var ch = textSymbols.charAt(i);
+    symbols[ch] = {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "textord"
+    };
+}
+
+var mathSymbols = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
+for (var i = 0; i < mathSymbols.length; i++) {
+    var ch = mathSymbols.charAt(i);
+    symbols[ch] = {
+        font: "main",
+        group: "mathord"
+    };
+}
+
+module.exports = symbols;