diff --git a/basis/alien/structs/fields/fields.factor b/basis/alien/structs/fields/fields.factor
index 7e2d4615b5..f958847abd 100644
--- a/basis/alien/structs/fields/fields.factor
+++ b/basis/alien/structs/fields/fields.factor
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ IN: alien.structs.fields
 TUPLE: field-spec name offset type reader writer ;
 
 : reader-word ( class name vocab -- word )
-    [ "-" glue ] dip create ;
+    [ "-" glue ] dip create dup make-deprecated ;
 
 : writer-word ( class name vocab -- word )
-    [ [ swap "set-" % % "-" % % ] "" make ] dip create ;
+    [ [ swap "set-" % % "-" % % ] "" make ] dip create dup make-deprecated ;
 
 : <field-spec> ( struct-name vocab type field-name -- spec )
     field-spec new
diff --git a/basis/alien/structs/structs-docs.factor b/basis/alien/structs/structs-docs.factor
index c74fe22dfd..c2a7d43387 100644
--- a/basis/alien/structs/structs-docs.factor
+++ b/basis/alien/structs/structs-docs.factor
@@ -30,4 +30,4 @@ ARTICLE: "c-unions" "C unions"
 { $subsection POSTPONE: C-UNION: }
 "C union objects can be allocated by calling " { $link <c-object> } " or " { $link malloc-object } "."
 $nl
-"Arrays of C unions can be created with the " { $vocab-link "struct-arrays" } " vocabulary." ;
\ No newline at end of file
+"Arrays of C unions can be created with the " { $vocab-link "struct-arrays" } " vocabulary." ;
diff --git a/basis/alien/structs/structs.factor b/basis/alien/structs/structs.factor
index 85b55f2cbc..fed3ce801b 100755
--- a/basis/alien/structs/structs.factor
+++ b/basis/alien/structs/structs.factor
@@ -55,12 +55,12 @@ M: struct-type stack-size
     [ struct-offsets ] keep
     [ [ type>> ] map compute-struct-align ] keep
     [ struct-type (define-struct) ] keep
-    [ define-field ] each ;
+    [ define-field ] each ; deprecated
 
 : define-union ( name members -- )
     [ expand-constants ] map
     [ [ heap-size ] [ max ] map-reduce ] keep
-    compute-struct-align f struct-type (define-struct) ;
+    compute-struct-align f struct-type (define-struct) ; deprecated
 
 : offset-of ( field struct -- offset )
     c-types get at fields>> 
diff --git a/basis/alien/syntax/syntax-docs.factor b/basis/alien/syntax/syntax-docs.factor
index a3215cd8c6..c9e03724f5 100644
--- a/basis/alien/syntax/syntax-docs.factor
+++ b/basis/alien/syntax/syntax-docs.factor
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 IN: alien.syntax
 USING: alien alien.c-types alien.parser alien.structs
-help.markup help.syntax ;
+classes.struct help.markup help.syntax ;
 
 HELP: DLL"
 { $syntax "DLL\" path\"" }
@@ -55,12 +55,14 @@ HELP: TYPEDEF:
 { $notes "This word differs from " { $link typedef } " in that it runs at parse time, to ensure correct ordering of operations when loading source files. Words defined in source files are compiled before top-level forms are run, so if a source file defines C binding words and uses " { $link typedef } ", the type alias won't be available at compile time." } ;
 
 HELP: C-STRUCT:
+{ $deprecated "New code should use " { $link "classes.struct" } ". See the " { $link POSTPONE: STRUCT: } " word." }
 { $syntax "C-STRUCT: name pairs... ;" }
 { $values { "name" "a new C type name" } { "pairs" "C type / field name string pairs" } }
 { $description "Defines a C struct layout and accessor words." }
 { $notes "C type names are documented in " { $link "c-types-specs" } "." } ;
 
 HELP: C-UNION:
+{ $deprecated "New code should use " { $link "classes.struct" } ". See the " { $link POSTPONE: UNION-STRUCT: } " word." }
 { $syntax "C-UNION: name members... ;" }
 { $values { "name" "a new C type name" } { "members" "a sequence of C types" } }
 { $description "Defines a new C type sized to fit its largest member." }
diff --git a/basis/alien/syntax/syntax.factor b/basis/alien/syntax/syntax.factor
index b70aa3557c..2b0270d5f5 100644
--- a/basis/alien/syntax/syntax.factor
+++ b/basis/alien/syntax/syntax.factor
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ SYNTAX: TYPEDEF:
     scan scan typedef ;
 
 SYNTAX: C-STRUCT:
-    scan current-vocab parse-definition define-struct ;
+    scan current-vocab parse-definition define-struct ; deprecated
 
 SYNTAX: C-UNION:
-    scan parse-definition define-union ;
+    scan parse-definition define-union ; deprecated
 
 SYNTAX: C-ENUM:
     ";" parse-tokens