diff --git a/basis/documents/elements/elements-tests.factor b/basis/documents/elements/elements-tests.factor
index a3f05d7a71..9b323ae8e9 100644
--- a/basis/documents/elements/elements-tests.factor
+++ b/basis/documents/elements/elements-tests.factor
@@ -3,68 +3,72 @@
 USING: tools.test namespaces documents documents.elements multiline ;
 IN: document.elements.tests
 
-<document> "doc" set
-"123\nabc" "doc" get set-doc-string
+SYMBOL: doc
+<document> doc set
+"123\nabcé" doc get set-doc-string
 
 ! char-elt
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 0 } "doc" get char-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 1 } "doc" get char-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 3 } ] [ { 1 0 } "doc" get char-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 0 } doc get char-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 1 } doc get char-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 3 } ] [ { 1 0 } doc get char-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 1 3 } ] [ { 1 5 } doc get char-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
 
-[ { 1 3 } ] [ { 1 3 } "doc" get char-elt next-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 2 } ] [ { 0 1 } "doc" get char-elt next-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 1 0 } ] [ { 0 3 } "doc" get char-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 1 5 } ] [ { 1 5 } doc get char-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 2 } ] [ { 0 1 } doc get char-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 1 0 } ] [ { 0 3 } doc get char-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 1 5 } ] [ { 1 3 } doc get char-elt next-elt ] unit-test
 
 ! word-elt
-<document> "doc" set
-"Hello world\nanother line" "doc" get set-doc-string
+<document> doc set
+"Hello world\nanother line" doc get set-doc-string
 
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 0 } "doc" get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 2 } "doc" get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 5 } "doc" get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 5 } ] [ { 0 6 } "doc" get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 6 } ] [ { 0 8 } "doc" get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 11 } ] [ { 1 0 } "doc" get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 0 } doc get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 2 } doc get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 5 } doc get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 5 } ] [ { 0 6 } doc get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 6 } ] [ { 0 8 } doc get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 11 } ] [ { 1 0 } doc get word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+
+[ { 0 5 } ] [ { 0 0 } doc get word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 6 } ] [ { 0 5 } doc get word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 11 } ] [ { 0 6 } doc get word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 1 0 } ] [ { 0 11 } doc get word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
 
-[ { 0 5 } ] [ { 0 0 } "doc" get word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 6 } ] [ { 0 5 } "doc" get word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 11 } ] [ { 0 6 } "doc" get word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 1 0 } ] [ { 0 11 } "doc" get word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
 
 ! one-word-elt
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 0 } "doc" get one-word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 2 } "doc" get one-word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 5 } "doc" get one-word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 5 } ] [ { 0 2 } "doc" get one-word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 5 } ] [ { 0 5 } "doc" get one-word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 0 } doc get one-word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 2 } doc get one-word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 5 } doc get one-word-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 5 } ] [ { 0 2 } doc get one-word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 5 } ] [ { 0 5 } doc get one-word-elt next-elt ] unit-test
 
 ! line-elt
-<document> "doc" set
-"Hello\nworld, how are\nyou?" "doc" get set-doc-string
+<document> doc set
+"Hello\nworld, how are\nyou?" doc get set-doc-string
 
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 3 } "doc" get line-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 0 3 } ] [ { 1 3 } "doc" get line-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 2 4 } ] [ { 2 1 } "doc" get line-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 0 3 } doc get line-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 3 } ] [ { 1 3 } doc get line-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 2 4 } ] [ { 2 1 } doc get line-elt next-elt ] unit-test
 
 ! one-line-elt
-[ { 1 0 } ] [ { 1 3 } "doc" get one-line-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 1 14 } ] [ { 1 3 } "doc" get one-line-elt next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 1 0 } ] [ { 1 3 } doc get one-line-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 1 14 } ] [ { 1 3 } doc get one-line-elt next-elt ] unit-test
 
 ! page-elt
-<document> "doc" set
+<document> doc set
 <" First line
 Second line
 Third line
 Fourth line
 Fifth line
-Sixth line"> "doc" get set-doc-string
+Sixth line"> doc get set-doc-string
 
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 3 3 } "doc" get 4 <page-elt> prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 1 2 } ] [ { 5 2 } "doc" get 4 <page-elt> prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 3 3 } doc get 4 <page-elt> prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 1 2 } ] [ { 5 2 } doc get 4 <page-elt> prev-elt ] unit-test
 
-[ { 4 3 } ] [ { 0 3 } "doc" get 4 <page-elt> next-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 5 10 } ] [ { 4 2 } "doc" get 4 <page-elt> next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 4 3 } ] [ { 0 3 } doc get 4 <page-elt> next-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 5 10 } ] [ { 4 2 } doc get 4 <page-elt> next-elt ] unit-test
 
 ! doc-elt
-[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 3 4 } "doc" get doc-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
-[ { 5 10 } ] [ { 3 4 } "doc" get doc-elt next-elt ] unit-test
\ No newline at end of file
+[ { 0 0 } ] [ { 3 4 } doc get doc-elt prev-elt ] unit-test
+[ { 5 10 } ] [ { 3 4 } doc get doc-elt next-elt ] unit-test
diff --git a/basis/documents/elements/elements.factor b/basis/documents/elements/elements.factor
index 9a8b82acac..f485f1bec1 100644
--- a/basis/documents/elements/elements.factor
+++ b/basis/documents/elements/elements.factor
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ! Copyright (C) 2006, 2009 Slava Pestov.
 ! See http://factorcode.org/license.txt for BSD license.
 USING: arrays combinators documents fry kernel math sequences
-accessors unicode.categories combinators.short-circuit ;
+accessors unicode.categories unicode.breaks combinators.short-circuit ;
 IN: documents.elements
 
 GENERIC: prev-elt ( loc document elt -- newloc )
@@ -27,20 +27,25 @@ SINGLETON: char-elt
         [ call ]
     } cond ; inline
 
-: next ( loc document quot: ( loc document -- loc )
+: next ( loc document quot: ( loc document -- loc ) -- loc )
     {
         { [ 2over doc-end = ] [ 2drop ] }
         { [ 2over line-end? ] [ 2drop first 1+ 0 2array ] }
         [ call ]
     } cond ; inline
 
+: modify-col ( loc document quot: ( col str -- col' ) -- loc )
+    pick [
+        [ [ first2 swap ] dip doc-line ] dip call
+    ] dip =col ; inline
+
 PRIVATE>
 
 M: char-elt prev-elt
-    drop [ drop -1 +col ] prev ;
+    drop [ [ last-grapheme-from ] modify-col ] prev ;
 
 M: char-elt next-elt
-    drop [ drop 1 +col ] next ;
+    drop [ [ first-grapheme-from ] modify-col ] next ;
 
 SINGLETON: one-char-elt
 
@@ -50,22 +55,17 @@ M: one-char-elt next-elt 2drop ;
 
 <PRIVATE
 
-: (word-elt) ( loc document quot -- loc )
-    pick [
-        [ [ first2 swap ] dip doc-line ] dip call
-    ] dip =col ; inline
-
 : blank-at? ( n seq -- n seq ? )
     2dup ?nth blank? ;
 
 : break-detector ( ? -- quot )
     '[ blank? _ xor ] ; inline
 
-: (prev-word) ( col str ? -- col )
+: prev-word ( col str ? -- col )
     break-detector find-last-from drop ?1+ ;
 
-: (next-word) ( col str ? -- col )
-    { [ break-detector find-from drop ] [ drop length ] } 2|| ;
+: next-word ( col str ? -- col )
+    [ break-detector find-from drop ] [ drop length ] 2bi or ;
 
 PRIVATE>
 
@@ -73,22 +73,22 @@ SINGLETON: one-word-elt
 
 M: one-word-elt prev-elt
     drop
-    [ [ 1- ] dip f (prev-word) ] (word-elt) ;
+    [ [ 1- ] dip f prev-word ] modify-col ;
 
 M: one-word-elt next-elt
     drop
-    [ f (next-word) ] (word-elt) ;
+    [ f next-word ] modify-col ;
 
 SINGLETON: word-elt
 
 M: word-elt prev-elt
     drop
-    [ [ [ 1- ] dip blank-at? (prev-word) ] (word-elt) ]
+    [ [ [ 1- ] dip blank-at? prev-word ] modify-col ]
     prev ;
 
 M: word-elt next-elt
     drop
-    [ [ blank-at? (next-word) ] (word-elt) ]
+    [ [ blank-at? next-word ] modify-col ]
     next ;
 
 SINGLETON: one-line-elt