diff --git a/runtime/syntax/jovial.vim b/runtime/syntax/jovial.vim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c63841
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/syntax/jovial.vim
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+" Vim syntax file
+" Language: JOVIAL J73
+" Version: 1.2
+" Maintainer: Paul McGinnis <paulmcg@aol.com>
+" Last Change: 2011/06/17
+" Remark: Based on MIL-STD-1589C for JOVIAL J73 language
+
+" Quit when a (custom) syntax file was already loaded
+if exists("b:current_syntax")
+  finish
+endif
+
+syn case ignore
+
+syn keyword jovialTodo TODO FIXME XXX contained
+
+" JOVIAL beads - first digit is number of bits, [0-9A-V] is the bit value
+" representing 0-31 (for 5 bits on the bead)
+syn match jovialBitConstant "[1-5]B'[0-9A-V]'"
+
+syn match jovialNumber "\<\d\+\>"
+
+syn match jovialFloat "\d\+E[-+]\=\d\+"
+syn match jovialFloat "\d\+\.\d*\(E[-+]\=\d\+\)\="
+syn match jovialFloat "\.\d\+\(E[-+]\=\d\+\)\="
+
+syn region jovialComment start=/"/ end=/"/ contains=jovialTodo
+syn region jovialComment start=/%/ end=/%/ contains=jovialTodo
+
+" JOVIAL variable names. This rule is to prevent conflicts with strings.
+" Handle special case where ' character can be part of a JOVIAL variable name.
+syn match jovialIdentifier "[A-Z\$][A-Z0-9'\$]\+"
+
+syn region jovialString start="\s*'" skip=/''/ end=/'/ oneline
+
+" JOVIAL compiler directives -- see Section 9 in MIL-STD-1589C
+syn region jovialPreProc start="\s*![A-Z]\+" end=/;/
+
+syn keyword jovialOperator AND OR NOT XOR EQV MOD
+
+" See Section 2.1 in MIL-STD-1589C for data types
+syn keyword jovialType ITEM B C P V
+syn match jovialType "\<S\(,R\|,T\|,Z\)\=\>"
+syn match jovialType "\<U\(,R\|,T\|,Z\)\=\>"
+syn match jovialType "\<F\(,R\|,T\|,Z\)\=\>"
+syn match jovialType "\<A\(,R\|,T\|,Z\)\=\>"
+
+syn keyword jovialStorageClass STATIC CONSTANT PARALLEL BLOCK N M D W
+
+syn keyword jovialStructure TABLE STATUS
+
+syn keyword jovialConstant NULL
+
+syn keyword jovialBoolean FALSE TRUE
+
+syn keyword jovialTypedef TYPE
+
+syn keyword jovialStatement ABORT BEGIN BY BYREF BYRES BYVAL CASE COMPOOL
+syn keyword jovialStatement DEF DEFAULT DEFINE ELSE END EXIT FALLTHRU FOR
+syn keyword jovialStatement GOTO IF INLINE INSTANCE LABEL LIKE OVERLAY POS
+syn keyword jovialStatement PROC PROGRAM REC REF RENT REP RETURN START STOP
+syn keyword jovialStatement TERM THEN WHILE
+
+" JOVIAL extensions, see section 8.2.2 in MIL-STD-1589C
+syn keyword jovialStatement CONDITION ENCAPSULATION EXPORTS FREE HANDLER IN INTERRUPT NEW
+syn keyword jovialStatement PROTECTED READONLY REGISTER SIGNAL TO UPDATE WITH WRITEONLY ZONE
+
+" implementation specific constants and functions, see section 1.4 in MIL-STD-1589C
+syn keyword jovialConstant BITSINBYTE BITSINWORD LOCSINWORD
+syn keyword jovialConstant BYTESINWORD BITSINPOINTER INTPRECISION
+syn keyword jovialConstant FLOATPRECISION FIXEDPRECISION FLOATRADIX
+syn keyword jovialConstant MAXFLOATPRECISION MAXFIXEDPRECISION
+syn keyword jovialConstant MAXINTSIZE MAXBYTES MAXBITS
+syn keyword jovialConstant MAXTABLESIZE MAXSTOP MINSTOP MAXSIGDIGITS
+syn keyword jovialFunction BYTEPOS MAXINT MININT
+syn keyword jovialFunction IMPLFLOATPRECISION IMPLFIXEDPRECISION IMPLINTSIZE
+syn keyword jovialFunction MINSIZE MINFRACTION MINSCALE MINRELPRECISION
+syn keyword jovialFunction MAXFLOAT MINFLOAT FLOATRELPRECISION
+syn keyword jovialFunction FLOATUNDERFLOW MAXFIXED MINFIXED
+
+" JOVIAL built-in functions
+syn keyword jovialFunction LOC NEXT BIT BYTE SHIFTL SHIFTR ABS SGN BITSIZE
+syn keyword jovialFunction BYTESIZE WORDSIZE LBOUND UBOUND NWDSEN FIRST
+syn keyword jovialFunction LAST NENT
+
+" Define the default highlighting.
+hi def link jovialBitConstant Number
+hi def link jovialBoolean Boolean
+hi def link jovialComment Comment
+hi def link jovialConstant Constant
+hi def link jovialFloat Float
+hi def link jovialFunction Function
+" No color highlighting for JOVIAL identifiers. See above,
+" this is to prevent confusion with JOVIAL strings
+"hi def link jovialIdentifier Identifier
+hi def link jovialNumber Number
+hi def link jovialOperator Operator
+hi def link jovialPreProc PreProc
+hi def link jovialStatement Statement
+hi def link jovialStorageClass StorageClass
+hi def link jovialString String
+hi def link jovialStructure Structure
+hi def link jovialTodo Todo
+hi def link jovialType Type
+hi def link jovialTypedef Typedef
+
+
+let b:current_syntax = "jovial"
+
+" vim: ts=8