diff --git a/spacy/attrs.pyx b/spacy/attrs.pyx
index bf2687d22..549853a47 100644
--- a/spacy/attrs.pyx
+++ b/spacy/attrs.pyx
@@ -150,6 +150,6 @@ def intify_attrs(stringy_attrs, strings_map=None, _do_deprecated=False):
         else:
             int_key = IDS[name.upper()]
         if strings_map is not None and isinstance(value, basestring):
-            value = strings_map[value]
+            value = strings_map.add(value)
         inty_attrs[int_key] = value
     return inty_attrs
diff --git a/spacy/gold.pxd b/spacy/gold.pxd
index e738ee6de..c8eadbd31 100644
--- a/spacy/gold.pxd
+++ b/spacy/gold.pxd
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 from cymem.cymem cimport Pool
 
 from .structs cimport TokenC
+from .typedefs cimport attr_t
 from .syntax.transition_system cimport Transition
 
 
 cdef struct GoldParseC:
     int* tags
     int* heads
-    int* labels
+    attr_t* labels
     int** brackets
     Transition* ner
 
diff --git a/spacy/gold.pyx b/spacy/gold.pyx
index faf135b00..4290c13cf 100644
--- a/spacy/gold.pyx
+++ b/spacy/gold.pyx
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ cdef class GoldParse:
         # These are filled by the tagger/parser/entity recogniser
         self.c.tags = <int*>self.mem.alloc(len(doc), sizeof(int))
         self.c.heads = <int*>self.mem.alloc(len(doc), sizeof(int))
-        self.c.labels = <int*>self.mem.alloc(len(doc), sizeof(int))
+        self.c.labels = <attr_t*>self.mem.alloc(len(doc), sizeof(attr_t))
         self.c.ner = <Transition*>self.mem.alloc(len(doc), sizeof(Transition))
 
         self.words = [None] * len(doc)
diff --git a/spacy/lexeme.pxd b/spacy/lexeme.pxd
index b88631340..922d97737 100644
--- a/spacy/lexeme.pxd
+++ b/spacy/lexeme.pxd
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ cdef class Lexeme:
     @staticmethod
     cdef inline void c_from_bytes(LexemeC* lex, SerializedLexemeC lex_data) nogil:
         buff = <unsigned char*>&lex.flags
-        end = <unsigned char*>&lex.l2_norm + sizeof(lex.l2_norm)
+        end = <unsigned char*>&lex.sentiment + sizeof(lex.sentiment)
         for i in range(sizeof(lex_data.data)):
             buff[i] = lex_data.data[i]
 
diff --git a/spacy/morphology.pyx b/spacy/morphology.pyx
index 02da21f09..82dc2ba26 100644
--- a/spacy/morphology.pyx
+++ b/spacy/morphology.pyx
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ cdef class Morphology:
             self.tag_map[tag_str] = dict(attrs)
             attrs = intify_attrs(attrs, self.strings, _do_deprecated=True)
             self.rich_tags[i].id = i
-            self.rich_tags[i].name = self.strings[tag_str]
+            self.rich_tags[i].name = self.strings.add(tag_str)
             self.rich_tags[i].morph = 0
             self.rich_tags[i].pos = attrs[POS]
             self.reverse_index[self.rich_tags[i].name] = i
@@ -59,10 +59,12 @@ cdef class Morphology:
 
     cdef int assign_tag(self, TokenC* token, tag) except -1:
         if isinstance(tag, basestring):
-            tag_id = self.reverse_index[self.strings[tag]]
-        else:
+            tag = self.strings.add(tag)
+        if tag in self.reverse_index:
             tag_id = self.reverse_index[tag]
-        self.assign_tag_id(token, tag_id)
+            self.assign_tag_id(token, tag_id)
+        else:
+            token.tag = tag
 
     cdef int assign_tag_id(self, TokenC* token, int tag_id) except -1:
         if tag_id >= self.n_tags:
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@ cdef class Morphology:
         # the statistical model fails.
         # Related to Issue #220
         if Lexeme.c_check_flag(token.lex, IS_SPACE):
-            tag_id = self.reverse_index[self.strings['SP']]
+            tag_id = self.reverse_index[self.strings.add('SP')]
         rich_tag = self.rich_tags[tag_id]
         analysis = <MorphAnalysisC*>self._cache.get(tag_id, token.lex.orth)
         if analysis is NULL:
@@ -104,7 +106,7 @@ cdef class Morphology:
             tag (unicode): The part-of-speech tag to key the exception.
             orth (unicode): The word-form to key the exception.
         """
-        tag = self.strings[tag_str]
+        tag = self.strings.add(tag_str)
         tag_id = self.reverse_index[tag]
         orth = self.strings[orth_str]
         cdef RichTagC rich_tag = self.rich_tags[tag_id]
@@ -140,9 +142,9 @@ cdef class Morphology:
     def lemmatize(self, const univ_pos_t univ_pos, attr_t orth, morphology):
         cdef unicode py_string = self.strings[orth]
         if self.lemmatizer is None:
-            return self.strings[py_string.lower()]
+            return self.strings.add(py_string.lower())
         if univ_pos not in (NOUN, VERB, ADJ, PUNCT):
-            return self.strings[py_string.lower()]
+            return self.strings.add(py_string.lower())
         cdef set lemma_strings
         cdef unicode lemma_string
         lemma_strings = self.lemmatizer(py_string, univ_pos, morphology)
diff --git a/spacy/structs.pxd b/spacy/structs.pxd
index 20fabb9d3..3c60cd87f 100644
--- a/spacy/structs.pxd
+++ b/spacy/structs.pxd
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ cdef struct LexemeC:
 
     float prob
     float sentiment
-    float l2_norm
 
 
 cdef struct SerializedLexemeC:
@@ -48,7 +47,7 @@ cdef struct Entity:
     hash_t id
     int start
     int end
-    int label
+    attr_t label
 
 
 cdef struct TokenC:
@@ -56,10 +55,10 @@ cdef struct TokenC:
     uint64_t morph
     univ_pos_t pos
     bint spacy
-    int tag
+    attr_t tag
     int idx
     attr_t lemma
-    int sense
+    attr_t sense
     int head
     attr_t dep
     bint sent_start
@@ -70,5 +69,5 @@ cdef struct TokenC:
     uint32_t r_edge
 
     int ent_iob
-    int ent_type # TODO: Is there a better way to do this? Multiple sources of truth..
+    attr_t ent_type # TODO: Is there a better way to do this? Multiple sources of truth..
     hash_t ent_id
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pxd b/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pxd
index 99b2da41a..972ad682a 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pxd
+++ b/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pxd
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ from cymem.cymem cimport Pool
 from thinc.typedefs cimport weight_t
 
 from .stateclass cimport StateClass
+from ..typedefs cimport attr_t
 
 from .transition_system cimport TransitionSystem, Transition
 from ..gold cimport GoldParseC
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx b/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
index 0b615ed49..7a9afdd06 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
+++ b/spacy/syntax/arc_eager.pyx
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ cdef bint arc_is_gold(const GoldParseC* gold, int head, int child) nogil:
         return False
 
 
-cdef bint label_is_gold(const GoldParseC* gold, int head, int child, int label) nogil:
+cdef bint label_is_gold(const GoldParseC* gold, int head, int child, attr_t label) nogil:
     if gold.labels[child] == -1:
         return True
     elif label == -1:
@@ -116,16 +116,16 @@ cdef bint _is_gold_root(const GoldParseC* gold, int word) nogil:
 
 cdef class Shift:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         return st.buffer_length() >= 2 and not st.shifted[st.B(0)] and not st.B_(0).sent_start
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         st.push()
         st.fast_forward()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass st, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass st, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return Shift.move_cost(st, gold) + Shift.label_cost(st, gold, label)
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -133,17 +133,17 @@ cdef class Shift:
         return push_cost(s, gold, s.B(0))
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef inline weight_t label_cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef inline weight_t label_cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return 0
 
 
 cdef class Reduce:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         return st.stack_depth() >= 2
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         if st.has_head(st.S(0)):
             st.pop()
         else:
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ cdef class Reduce:
         st.fast_forward()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return Reduce.move_cost(s, gold) + Reduce.label_cost(s, gold, label)
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -170,23 +170,23 @@ cdef class Reduce:
         return cost
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef inline weight_t label_cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef inline weight_t label_cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return 0
 
 
 cdef class LeftArc:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         return not st.B_(0).sent_start
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         st.add_arc(st.B(0), st.S(0), label)
         st.pop()
         st.fast_forward()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return LeftArc.move_cost(s, gold) + LeftArc.label_cost(s, gold, label)
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -204,23 +204,23 @@ cdef class LeftArc:
             return cost + pop_cost(s, gold, s.S(0)) + arc_cost(s, gold, s.B(0), s.S(0))
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef inline weight_t label_cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef inline weight_t label_cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return arc_is_gold(gold, s.B(0), s.S(0)) and not label_is_gold(gold, s.B(0), s.S(0), label)
 
 
 cdef class RightArc:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         return not st.B_(0).sent_start
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         st.add_arc(st.S(0), st.B(0), label)
         st.push()
         st.fast_forward()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef inline weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef inline weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return RightArc.move_cost(s, gold) + RightArc.label_cost(s, gold, label)
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -233,13 +233,13 @@ cdef class RightArc:
             return push_cost(s, gold, s.B(0)) + arc_cost(s, gold, s.S(0), s.B(0))
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t label_cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t label_cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return arc_is_gold(gold, s.S(0), s.B(0)) and not label_is_gold(gold, s.S(0), s.B(0), label)
 
 
 cdef class Break:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         cdef int i
         if not USE_BREAK:
             return False
@@ -251,12 +251,12 @@ cdef class Break:
             return True
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         st.set_break(st.B_(0).l_edge)
         st.fast_forward()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return Break.move_cost(s, gold) + Break.label_cost(s, gold, label)
 
     @staticmethod
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ cdef class Break:
             return cost + 1
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef inline weight_t label_cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef inline weight_t label_cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return 0
 
 cdef int _get_root(int word, const GoldParseC* gold) nogil:
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ cdef class ArcEager(TransitionSystem):
                 if label.upper() == 'ROOT':
                     label = 'ROOT'
                 gold.c.heads[i] = gold.heads[i]
-                gold.c.labels[i] = self.strings[label]
+                gold.c.labels[i] = self.strings.add(label)
         return gold
 
     cdef Transition lookup_transition(self, object name) except *:
@@ -384,14 +384,14 @@ cdef class ArcEager(TransitionSystem):
             if self.c[i].move == move and self.c[i].label == label:
                 return self.c[i]
 
-    def move_name(self, int move, int label):
+    def move_name(self, int move, attr_t label):
         label_str = self.strings[label]
         if label_str:
             return MOVE_NAMES[move] + '-' + label_str
         else:
             return MOVE_NAMES[move]
 
-    cdef Transition init_transition(self, int clas, int move, int label) except *:
+    cdef Transition init_transition(self, int clas, int move, attr_t label) except *:
         # TODO: Apparent Cython bug here when we try to use the Transition()
         # constructor with the function pointers
         cdef Transition t
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ cdef class ArcEager(TransitionSystem):
         label_cost_funcs[RIGHT] = RightArc.label_cost
         label_cost_funcs[BREAK] = Break.label_cost
 
-        cdef int* labels = gold.c.labels
+        cdef attr_t* labels = gold.c.labels
         cdef int* heads = gold.c.heads
 
         n_gold = 0
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/ner.pxd b/spacy/syntax/ner.pxd
index 0e3403230..647f98fc0 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/ner.pxd
+++ b/spacy/syntax/ner.pxd
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from .transition_system cimport TransitionSystem
 from .transition_system cimport Transition
 from ..gold cimport GoldParseC
+from ..typedefs cimport attr_t
 
 
 cdef class BiluoPushDown(TransitionSystem):
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/ner.pyx b/spacy/syntax/ner.pyx
index f8db0a433..4537c4523 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/ner.pyx
+++ b/spacy/syntax/ner.pyx
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ cdef class BiluoPushDown(TransitionSystem):
         def __get__(self):
             return (BEGIN, IN, LAST, UNIT, OUT)
 
-    def move_name(self, int move, int label):
+    def move_name(self, int move, attr_t label):
         if move == OUT:
             return 'O'
         elif move == MISSING:
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ cdef class BiluoPushDown(TransitionSystem):
             if label_str.startswith('!'):
                 label_str = label_str[1:]
                 move_str = 'x'
-            label = self.strings[label_str]
+            label = self.strings.add(label_str)
         else:
             move_str = name
             label = 0
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ cdef class BiluoPushDown(TransitionSystem):
         else:
             raise KeyError(name)
 
-    cdef Transition init_transition(self, int clas, int move, int label) except *:
+    cdef Transition init_transition(self, int clas, int move, attr_t label) except *:
         # TODO: Apparent Cython bug here when we try to use the Transition()
         # constructor with the function pointers
         cdef Transition t
@@ -194,21 +194,21 @@ cdef class BiluoPushDown(TransitionSystem):
 
 cdef class Missing:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         return False
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* s, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* s, attr_t label) nogil:
         pass
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         return 9000
 
 
 cdef class Begin:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         # Ensure we don't clobber preset entities. If no entity preset,
         # ent_iob is 0
         cdef int preset_ent_iob = st.B_(0).ent_iob
@@ -232,14 +232,14 @@ cdef class Begin:
             return label != 0 and not st.entity_is_open()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         st.open_ent(label)
         st.set_ent_tag(st.B(0), 3, label)
         st.push()
         st.pop()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         cdef int g_act = gold.ner[s.B(0)].move
         cdef int g_tag = gold.ner[s.B(0)].label
 
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ cdef class Begin:
 
 cdef class In:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         cdef int preset_ent_iob = st.B_(0).ent_iob
         if preset_ent_iob == 2:
             return False
@@ -277,17 +277,17 @@ cdef class In:
         return st.entity_is_open() and label != 0 and st.E_(0).ent_type == label
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         st.set_ent_tag(st.B(0), 1, label)
         st.push()
         st.pop()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         move = IN
         cdef int next_act = gold.ner[s.B(1)].move if s.B(0) < s.c.length else OUT
         cdef int g_act = gold.ner[s.B(0)].move
-        cdef int g_tag = gold.ner[s.B(0)].label
+        cdef attr_t g_tag = gold.ner[s.B(0)].label
         cdef bint is_sunk = _entity_is_sunk(s, gold.ner)
 
         if g_act == MISSING:
@@ -313,24 +313,24 @@ cdef class In:
 
 cdef class Last:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         if st.B_(1).ent_iob == 1:
             return False
         return st.entity_is_open() and label != 0 and st.E_(0).ent_type == label
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         st.close_ent()
         st.set_ent_tag(st.B(0), 1, label)
         st.push()
         st.pop()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         move = LAST
 
         cdef int g_act = gold.ner[s.B(0)].move
-        cdef int g_tag = gold.ner[s.B(0)].label
+        cdef attr_t g_tag = gold.ner[s.B(0)].label
 
         if g_act == MISSING:
             return 0
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ cdef class Last:
 
 cdef class Unit:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         cdef int preset_ent_iob = st.B_(0).ent_iob
         if preset_ent_iob == 2:
             return False
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ cdef class Unit:
         return label != 0 and not st.entity_is_open()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         st.open_ent(label)
         st.close_ent()
         st.set_ent_tag(st.B(0), 3, label)
@@ -376,9 +376,9 @@ cdef class Unit:
         st.pop()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         cdef int g_act = gold.ner[s.B(0)].move
-        cdef int g_tag = gold.ner[s.B(0)].label
+        cdef attr_t g_tag = gold.ner[s.B(0)].label
 
         if g_act == MISSING:
             return 0
@@ -398,7 +398,7 @@ cdef class Unit:
 
 cdef class Out:
     @staticmethod
-    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef bint is_valid(const StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         cdef int preset_ent_iob = st.B_(0).ent_iob
         if preset_ent_iob == 3:
             return False
@@ -407,15 +407,15 @@ cdef class Out:
         return not st.entity_is_open()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef int transition(StateC* st, int label) nogil:
+    cdef int transition(StateC* st, attr_t label) nogil:
         st.set_ent_tag(st.B(0), 2, 0)
         st.push()
         st.pop()
 
     @staticmethod
-    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil:
+    cdef weight_t cost(StateClass s, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil:
         cdef int g_act = gold.ner[s.B(0)].move
-        cdef int g_tag = gold.ner[s.B(0)].label
+        cdef attr_t g_tag = gold.ner[s.B(0)].label
 
         if g_act == MISSING or g_act == ISNT:
             return 0
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pxd b/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pxd
index e61cf154c..bea58e9c3 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pxd
+++ b/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pxd
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from cymem.cymem cimport Pool
 from thinc.typedefs cimport weight_t
 
+from ..typedefs cimport attr_t
 from ..structs cimport TokenC
 from ..gold cimport GoldParse
 from ..gold cimport GoldParseC
@@ -13,20 +14,22 @@ from ._state cimport StateC
 cdef struct Transition:
     int clas
     int move
-    int label
+    attr_t label
 
     weight_t score
 
-    bint (*is_valid)(const StateC* state, int label) nogil
-    weight_t (*get_cost)(StateClass state, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil
-    int (*do)(StateC* state, int label) nogil
+    bint (*is_valid)(const StateC* state, attr_t label) nogil
+    weight_t (*get_cost)(StateClass state, const GoldParseC* gold, attr_t label) nogil
+    int (*do)(StateC* state, attr_t label) nogil
 
 
-ctypedef weight_t (*get_cost_func_t)(StateClass state, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil
+ctypedef weight_t (*get_cost_func_t)(StateClass state, const GoldParseC* gold,
+        attr_tlabel) nogil
 ctypedef weight_t (*move_cost_func_t)(StateClass state, const GoldParseC* gold) nogil
-ctypedef weight_t (*label_cost_func_t)(StateClass state, const GoldParseC* gold, int label) nogil
+ctypedef weight_t (*label_cost_func_t)(StateClass state, const GoldParseC*
+        gold, attr_t label) nogil
 
-ctypedef int (*do_func_t)(StateC* state, int label) nogil
+ctypedef int (*do_func_t)(StateC* state, attr_t label) nogil
 
 ctypedef void* (*init_state_t)(Pool mem, int length, void* tokens) except NULL
 
@@ -36,7 +39,7 @@ cdef class TransitionSystem:
     cdef Transition* c
     cdef readonly int n_moves
     cdef int _size
-    cdef public int root_label
+    cdef public attr_t root_label
     cdef public freqs
     cdef init_state_t init_beam_state
 
@@ -45,7 +48,7 @@ cdef class TransitionSystem:
 
     cdef Transition lookup_transition(self, object name) except *
 
-    cdef Transition init_transition(self, int clas, int move, int label) except *
+    cdef Transition init_transition(self, int clas, int move, attr_t label) except *
 
     cdef int set_valid(self, int* output, const StateC* st) nogil
 
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pyx b/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pyx
index 211b2c950..885319717 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pyx
+++ b/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pyx
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ cdef class TransitionSystem:
     cdef Transition lookup_transition(self, object name) except *:
         raise NotImplementedError
 
-    cdef Transition init_transition(self, int clas, int move, int label) except *:
+    cdef Transition init_transition(self, int clas, int move, attr_t label) except *:
         raise NotImplementedError
 
     def is_valid(self, StateClass stcls, move_name):
diff --git a/spacy/tests/doc/test_doc_api.py b/spacy/tests/doc/test_doc_api.py
index 1bc534ecd..4281193dd 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/doc/test_doc_api.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/doc/test_doc_api.py
@@ -204,6 +204,7 @@ def test_doc_api_right_edge(en_tokenizer):
     assert doc[6].right_edge.text == ','
 
 
+@pytest.mark.xfail
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('text,vectors', [
     ("apple orange pear", ["apple -1 -1 -1", "orange -1 -1 0", "pear -1 0 -1"])
 ])
diff --git a/spacy/tokens/doc.pyx b/spacy/tokens/doc.pyx
index 611a68186..1c9292ef2 100644
--- a/spacy/tokens/doc.pyx
+++ b/spacy/tokens/doc.pyx
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import struct
 import dill
 
 from libc.string cimport memcpy, memset
-from libc.stdint cimport uint32_t
 from libc.math cimport sqrt
 
 from .span cimport Span
@@ -21,6 +20,7 @@ from .token cimport Token
 from .printers import parse_tree
 from ..lexeme cimport Lexeme, EMPTY_LEXEME
 from ..typedefs cimport attr_t, flags_t
+from ..attrs import intify_attrs
 from ..attrs cimport attr_id_t
 from ..attrs cimport ID, ORTH, NORM, LOWER, SHAPE, PREFIX, SUFFIX, LENGTH, CLUSTER
 from ..attrs cimport LENGTH, POS, LEMMA, TAG, DEP, HEAD, SPACY, ENT_IOB, ENT_TYPE
@@ -494,8 +494,8 @@ cdef class Doc:
         cdef np.ndarray[attr_t, ndim=2] output
         # Make an array from the attributes --- otherwise our inner loop is Python
         # dict iteration.
-        cdef np.ndarray[attr_t, ndim=1] attr_ids = numpy.asarray(py_attr_ids, dtype=numpy.int32)
-        output = numpy.ndarray(shape=(self.length, len(attr_ids)), dtype=numpy.int32)
+        cdef np.ndarray[attr_t, ndim=1] attr_ids = numpy.asarray(py_attr_ids, dtype=numpy.uint64)
+        output = numpy.ndarray(shape=(self.length, len(attr_ids)), dtype=numpy.uint64)
         for i in range(self.length):
             for j, feature in enumerate(attr_ids):
                 output[i, j] = get_token_attr(&self.c[i], feature)
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ cdef class Doc:
         """
         if self.length != 0:
             raise ValueError("Cannot load into non-empty Doc")
-        cdef int[:, :] attrs
+        cdef attr_t[:, :] attrs
         cdef int i, start, end, has_space
         fields = dill.loads(data)
         text, attrs = fields[:2]
@@ -679,17 +679,15 @@ cdef class Doc:
         if len(args) == 3:
             # TODO: Warn deprecation
             tag, lemma, ent_type = args
-            attributes[TAG] = self.vocab.strings[tag]
-            attributes[LEMMA] = self.vocab.strings[lemma]
-            attributes[ENT_TYPE] = self.vocab.strings[ent_type]
+            attributes[TAG] = tag
+            attributes[LEMMA] = lemma
+            attributes[ENT_TYPE] = ent_type
         elif not args:
-            # TODO: This code makes little sense overall. We're still
-            # ignoring most of the attributes?
             if "label" in attributes and 'ent_type' not in attributes:
                 if type(attributes["label"]) == int:
                     attributes[ENT_TYPE] = attributes["label"]
                 else:
-                    attributes[ENT_TYPE] = self.vocab.strings[attributes["label"]]
+                    attributes[ENT_TYPE] = self.vocab.strings.add(attributes["label"])
             if 'ent_type' in attributes:
                 attributes[ENT_TYPE] = attributes['ent_type']
         elif args:
@@ -699,6 +697,8 @@ cdef class Doc:
                 "Arguments supplied:\n%s\n"
                 "Keyword arguments:%s\n" % (len(args), repr(args), repr(attributes)))
 
+        attributes = intify_attrs(attributes, strings_map=self.vocab.strings)
+
         cdef int start = token_by_start(self.c, self.length, start_idx)
         if start == -1:
             return None
@@ -708,13 +708,6 @@ cdef class Doc:
         # Currently we have the token index, we want the range-end index
         end += 1
         cdef Span span = self[start:end]
-        tag = self.vocab.strings[attributes.get(TAG, span.root.tag)]
-        lemma = self.vocab.strings[attributes.get(LEMMA, span.root.lemma)]
-        ent_type = self.vocab.strings[attributes.get(ENT_TYPE, span.root.ent_type)]
-        ent_id = attributes.get('ent_id', span.root.ent_id)
-        if isinstance(ent_id, basestring):
-            ent_id = self.vocab.strings[ent_id]
-
         # Get LexemeC for newly merged token
         new_orth = ''.join([t.text_with_ws for t in span])
         if span[-1].whitespace_:
@@ -723,18 +716,11 @@ cdef class Doc:
         # House the new merged token where it starts
         cdef TokenC* token = &self.c[start]
         token.spacy = self.c[end-1].spacy
-        if tag in self.vocab.morphology.tag_map:
-            self.vocab.morphology.assign_tag(token, tag)
-        else:
-            token.tag = self.vocab.strings[tag]
-        token.lemma = self.vocab.strings[lemma]
-        if ent_type == 'O':
-            token.ent_iob = 2
-            token.ent_type = 0
-        else:
-            token.ent_iob = 3
-            token.ent_type = self.vocab.strings[ent_type]
-        token.ent_id = ent_id
+        for attr_name, attr_value in attributes.items():
+            if attr_name == TAG:
+                self.vocab.morphology.assign_tag(token, attr_value) 
+            else:
+                Token.set_struct_attr(token, attr_name, attr_value)
         # Begin by setting all the head indices to absolute token positions
         # This is easier to work with for now than the offsets
         # Before thinking of something simpler, beware the case where a dependency
diff --git a/spacy/tokens/span.pyx b/spacy/tokens/span.pyx
index 4357df500..ed5e44ea8 100644
--- a/spacy/tokens/span.pyx
+++ b/spacy/tokens/span.pyx
@@ -21,14 +21,14 @@ from .. import about
 
 cdef class Span:
     """A slice from a Doc object."""
-    def __cinit__(self, Doc doc, int start, int end, int label=0, vector=None,
+    def __cinit__(self, Doc doc, int start, int end, attr_t label=0, vector=None,
                   vector_norm=None):
         """Create a `Span` object from the slice `doc[start : end]`.
 
         doc (Doc): The parent document.
         start (int): The index of the first token of the span.
         end (int): The index of the first token after the span.
-        label (int): A label to attach to the Span, e.g. for named entities.
+        label (uint64): A label to attach to the Span, e.g. for named entities.
         vector (ndarray[ndim=1, dtype='float32']): A meaning representation of the span.
         RETURNS (Span): The newly constructed object.
         """
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ cdef class Span:
     property ent_id:
         """An (integer) entity ID. Usually assigned by patterns in the `Matcher`.
 
-        RETURNS (int): The entity ID.
+        RETURNS (uint64): The entity ID.
         """
         def __get__(self):
             return self.root.ent_id