diff --git a/src/chars.c b/src/chars.c
index 66867647..8cd7610d 100644
--- a/src/chars.c
+++ b/src/chars.c
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ bool using_utf8(void)
 }
 #endif /* ENABLE_UTF8 */
 
-/* This function is equivalent to isalpha() for multibyte characters. */
-bool is_alpha_mbchar(const char *c)
+/* Return TRUE when the given character is some kind of letter. */
+bool is_alpha_char(const char *c)
 {
 #ifdef ENABLE_UTF8
 	if (use_utf8) {
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ bool is_alpha_mbchar(const char *c)
 		return isalpha((unsigned char)*c);
 }
 
-/* This function is equivalent to isalnum() for multibyte characters. */
-bool is_alnum_mbchar(const char *c)
+/* Return TRUE when the given character is some kind of letter or a digit. */
+bool is_alnum_char(const char *c)
 {
 #ifdef ENABLE_UTF8
 	if (use_utf8) {
@@ -92,10 +92,8 @@ bool is_blank_char(const char *c)
 		return isblank((unsigned char)*c);
 }
 
-/* This function is equivalent to iscntrl() for multibyte characters,
- * except in that it also handles multibyte control characters with
- * their high bits set. */
-bool is_cntrl_mbchar(const char *c)
+/* Return TRUE when the given character is a control character. */
+bool is_cntrl_char(const char *c)
 {
 #ifdef ENABLE_UTF8
 	if (use_utf8) {
@@ -106,8 +104,8 @@ bool is_cntrl_mbchar(const char *c)
 		return (((unsigned char)*c & 0x60) == 0 || (unsigned char)*c == 127);
 }
 
-/* This function is equivalent to ispunct() for multibyte characters. */
-bool is_punct_mbchar(const char *c)
+/* Return TRUE when the given character is a punctuation character. */
+bool is_punct_char(const char *c)
 {
 #ifdef ENABLE_UTF8
 	if (use_utf8) {
@@ -129,7 +127,7 @@ bool is_word_char(const char *c, bool allow_punct)
 	if (*c == '\0')
 		return FALSE;
 
-	if (is_alnum_mbchar(c))
+	if (is_alnum_char(c))
 		return TRUE;
 
 	if (word_chars != NULL && *word_chars != '\0') {
@@ -140,7 +138,7 @@ bool is_word_char(const char *c, bool allow_punct)
 		return (strstr(word_chars, symbol) != NULL);
 	}
 
-	return (allow_punct && is_punct_mbchar(c));
+	return (allow_punct && is_punct_char(c));
 }
 
 /* Return the visible representation of control character c. */
@@ -292,7 +290,7 @@ int advance_over(const char *string, size_t *column)
 		int charlen = mblen(string, MAXCHARLEN);
 
 		if (charlen > 0) {
-			if (is_cntrl_mbchar(string))
+			if (is_cntrl_char(string))
 				*column += 2;
 			else
 				*column += mbwidth(string);
diff --git a/src/proto.h b/src/proto.h
index 87b99ee7..a69087e9 100644
--- a/src/proto.h
+++ b/src/proto.h
@@ -203,9 +203,9 @@ char *strip_last_component(const char *path);
 void utf8_init(void);
 bool using_utf8(void);
 #endif
-bool is_alpha_mbchar(const char *c);
+bool is_alpha_char(const char *c);
 bool is_blank_char(const char *c);
-bool is_cntrl_mbchar(const char *c);
+bool is_cntrl_char(const char *c);
 bool is_word_char(const char *c, bool allow_punct);
 char control_mbrep(const char *c, bool isdata);
 #ifdef ENABLE_UTF8
diff --git a/src/utils.c b/src/utils.c
index ac389d1b..e30668eb 100644
--- a/src/utils.c
+++ b/src/utils.c
@@ -209,8 +209,8 @@ bool is_separate_word(size_t position, size_t length, const char *buf)
 	/* If the word starts at the beginning of the line OR the character before
 	 * the word isn't a letter, and if the word ends at the end of the line OR
 	 * the character after the word isn't a letter, we have a whole word. */
-	return ((position == 0 || !is_alpha_mbchar(before)) &&
-				(buf[word_end] == '\0' || !is_alpha_mbchar(after)));
+	return ((position == 0 || !is_alpha_char(before)) &&
+				(buf[word_end] == '\0' || !is_alpha_char(after)));
 }
 #endif /* ENABLE_SPELLER */
 
diff --git a/src/winio.c b/src/winio.c
index 659ad8d8..c282cd5a 100644
--- a/src/winio.c
+++ b/src/winio.c
@@ -1857,7 +1857,7 @@ char *display_string(const char *buf, size_t column, size_t span,
 	 * overwritten by a "<" token, then show placeholders instead. */
 	if (*buf != '\0' && *buf != '\t' && (start_col < column ||
 						(start_col > 0 && isdata && !ISSET(SOFTWRAP)))) {
-		if (is_cntrl_mbchar(buf)) {
+		if (is_cntrl_char(buf)) {
 			if (start_col < column) {
 				converted[index++] = control_mbrep(buf, isdata);
 				column++;
@@ -1931,7 +1931,7 @@ char *display_string(const char *buf, size_t column, size_t span,
 		}
 
 		/* Represent a control character with a leading caret. */
-		if (is_cntrl_mbchar(buf)) {
+		if (is_cntrl_char(buf)) {
 			converted[index++] = '^';
 			converted[index++] = control_mbrep(buf, isdata);
 			buf += char_length(buf);