diff --git a/alphabet/alphabet.go b/alphabet/alphabet.go
index 7355a83f..6eab6435 100644
--- a/alphabet/alphabet.go
+++ b/alphabet/alphabet.go
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import "fmt"
 // Alphabet is a struct that holds a list of symbols and a map of symbols to their index in the list.
 type Alphabet struct {
 	symbols  []string
-	encoding map[interface{}]int
+	encoding map[interface{}]uint8
 }
 
 // Error is an error type that is returned when a symbol is not in the alphabet.
@@ -23,23 +23,37 @@ func (e *Error) Error() string {
 
 // NewAlphabet creates a new alphabet from a list of symbols.
 func NewAlphabet(symbols []string) *Alphabet {
-	encoding := make(map[interface{}]int)
+	encoding := make(map[interface{}]uint8)
 	for index, symbol := range symbols {
-		encoding[symbol] = index
-		encoding[index] = index
+		encoding[symbol] = uint8(index)
+		encoding[index] = uint8(index)
 	}
 	return &Alphabet{symbols, encoding}
 }
 
 // Encode returns the index of a symbol in the alphabet.
-func (alphabet *Alphabet) Encode(symbol interface{}) (int, error) {
+func (alphabet *Alphabet) Encode(symbol interface{}) (uint8, error) {
 	c, ok := alphabet.encoding[symbol]
 	if !ok {
-		return 0, &Error{fmt.Sprintf("Symbol %v not in alphabet", symbol)}
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("Symbol %v not in alphabet", symbol)
 	}
 	return c, nil
 }
 
+// TODO: compress more when len(symbols) << 2^8
+// TODO: DecodeAll
+func (alphabet *Alphabet) EncodeAll(seq string) ([]uint8, error) {
+	encoded := make([]uint8, len(seq))
+	for i, r := range seq {
+		encoding, err := alphabet.Encode(string(r))
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("Symbol %c in position %d not in alphabet", r, i)
+		}
+		encoded[i] = uint8(encoding)
+	}
+	return encoded, nil
+}
+
 // Decode returns the symbol at a given index in the alphabet.
 func (alphabet *Alphabet) Decode(code interface{}) (string, error) {
 	c, ok := code.(int)
diff --git a/alphabet/alphabet_test.go b/alphabet/alphabet_test.go
index 81dd70ad..dc8ea04f 100644
--- a/alphabet/alphabet_test.go
+++ b/alphabet/alphabet_test.go
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func TestAlphabet(t *testing.T) {
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("Unexpected error encoding symbol %s: %v", symbol, err)
 		}
-		if code != i {
+		if int(code) != i {
 			t.Errorf("Incorrect encoding of symbol %s: expected %d, got %d", symbol, i, code)
 		}
 	}
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func TestAlphabet(t *testing.T) {
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("Unexpected error encoding symbol %s: %v", symbol, err)
 		}
-		if code != i {
+		if int(code) != i {
 			t.Errorf("Incorrect encoding of symbol %s: expected %d, got %d", symbol, i, code)
 		}
 	}
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func TestAlphabet(t *testing.T) {
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("Unexpected error encoding symbol %s: %v", symbol, err)
 		}
-		if code != i+len(symbols) {
+		if int(code) != i+len(symbols) {
 			t.Errorf("Incorrect encoding of symbol %s: expected %d, got %d", symbol, i+len(symbols), code)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/alphabet/kmer_counter.go b/alphabet/kmer_counter.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e1dc4208
--- /dev/null
+++ b/alphabet/kmer_counter.go
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+// TODO: add Alphabet and KmerCounter for codons
+// TODO: create benchmark for space and time costs
+// TODO: create efficient storage for children + counts in top node via multidimensional array
+// TODO: integrate with IO parsers
+// TODO: enable reading and writing to binary format
+// TODO: iterate over observed kmers (what is the appropriate iteration method?)
+// TODO: comparison between two KmerCounter's
+// TODO: initialize upper levels while respecting cache locality
+// TODO: add counts from other KmerCounter, to enable reducing parallel counts
+
+package alphabet
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+)
+
+type KmerCounter struct {
+	alphabet    *Alphabet
+	num_symbols uint8
+	max_k       uint8
+	total       uint64
+	children    []Node
+}
+
+type Node struct {
+	succ     *Node
+	child    *Node
+	encoding uint8
+	count    uint32
+}
+
+func NewKmerCounter(a *Alphabet, max_k uint8) *KmerCounter {
+	kc := new(KmerCounter)
+	kc.alphabet = a
+	kc.num_symbols = uint8(len(a.symbols))
+	kc.max_k = max_k
+	
+	kc.children = make([]Node, kc.num_symbols)
+	for i := uint8(1); i < kc.num_symbols; i++ {
+		kc.children[i].encoding = i
+		kc.children[i-1].succ = &kc.children[i]
+	}
+	return kc
+}
+
+func lookupChild(n *Node, encoding uint8) *Node {
+	for c := n.child; c != nil && encoding <= c.encoding; c = c.succ {
+		if encoding == c.encoding { return c }
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func insertChild(p *Node, encoding uint8, n *Node) {
+	if p.child == nil {
+		p.child = n
+	} else if (n.encoding < p.child.encoding) {
+		n.succ = p.child
+		p.child = n
+	} else {
+		for c := p.child; c.encoding < encoding; c = c.succ {
+			if encoding < c.succ.encoding {
+				n.succ = c.succ
+				c.succ = n
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	n.count++ // not sure why this is needed
+	n.encoding = encoding
+}
+
+func Observe(kc *KmerCounter, seq string) error {
+	cbuf, err := kc.alphabet.EncodeAll(seq[:kc.max_k])
+	if err != nil { return err }
+
+	CreateChildren := func (index int, remaining int) *Node {
+		if remaining == 0 { return nil } // this condition should never happen
+		nodes := make([]Node, remaining)
+
+		for j, n := range nodes {
+			n.count = 1
+			if j != 0 {
+				nodes[j-1].child = &n
+				n.encoding = cbuf[(index+j) % int(kc.max_k)]
+			}
+		}
+
+		return &nodes[0]
+	}
+
+	UpdateBuffer := func (index int) (max_k int, err error) {
+		max_k = int(kc.max_k)
+		lookahead := index + max_k - 1
+		var encoding uint8
+		if lookahead < len(seq) {
+			next := string(seq[lookahead])
+			encoding, err = kc.alphabet.Encode(next)
+			if err != nil {
+				err = fmt.Errorf("in position %d: %w", index, err)
+				return
+			}
+			cbuf[lookahead % int(kc.max_k)] = encoding
+		} else {
+			max_k = len(seq) - index
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
+	var encoding uint8
+	for i, _ := range seq {
+		max_k, err := UpdateBuffer(i)
+		if err != nil { return err }
+
+		p := &kc.children[cbuf[i % int(kc.max_k)]]
+		kc.total++
+		for k := 1; k <= max_k; k++ {
+			p.count++
+			// fmt.Printf("%d %d %v\n", i, k, p)
+
+			if k != max_k {
+				encoding = cbuf[(i+k) % int(kc.max_k)]
+				c := lookupChild(p, encoding)
+				if c == nil {
+					insertChild(p, encoding, CreateChildren(i+k, max_k-k))
+					break // inserted nodes already have count = 1 added
+				}
+				p = c
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func LookupCount(kc *KmerCounter, kmer string) (count uint32, err error) {
+	if len(kmer) > int(kc.max_k) {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("kmer_counter: attempted to lookup count of %d-mer which exceeds max supported length %d", len(kmer), kc.max_k)
+		return
+	}
+	if len(kmer) == 0 {
+		err = fmt.Errorf("kmer_counter: attempted to lookup count of 0mer")
+		return
+	}
+	encoded, err := kc.alphabet.EncodeAll(kmer)
+	if err != nil { return }
+
+	var k int
+	var p *Node
+	for k, p = 1, &kc.children[encoded[0]]; k < len(kmer) && p != nil; k++ {
+		p = lookupChild(p, encoded[k])
+	}
+	if p == nil { return }
+	count = p.count
+	return
+}
+
+func LookupFrequency(kc *KmerCounter, kmer string) (float64, error) {
+	count, err := LookupCount(kc, kmer)
+	if err != nil { return 0, err }
+	return float64(count) / float64(kc.total - uint64(len(kmer)-1)), nil
+}
diff --git a/alphabet/kmer_counter_test.go b/alphabet/kmer_counter_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f59e88bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/alphabet/kmer_counter_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+package alphabet
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"github.com/TimothyStiles/poly/transform/variants"
+)
+
+func Assertf (t *testing.T, cond bool, format string, args ...any) {
+	if !cond {
+		t.Errorf(format, args...)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestKmerCounterEmpty(t *testing.T) {
+	kc := NewKmerCounter(DNA, 3)
+
+	count, err := LookupCount(kc, "A")
+	assert.EqualValues(t, 0, count)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	count, err = LookupCount(kc, "X")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+}
+
+func TestKmerCounterRepeated(t *testing.T) {
+	kc := NewKmerCounter(DNA, 3)
+	seq := strings.Repeat("A", 12)
+	assert.Equal(t, 12, len(seq))
+	err := Observe(kc, seq)
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	assert.Equal(t, 12, int(kc.total))
+
+	onemers, _ := variants.AllVariantsIUPAC("N")
+	for _, kmer := range onemers {
+		count, err := LookupCount(kc, kmer)
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		if kmer == "A" {
+			assert.EqualValues(t, 12, count, "Wrong count")
+		} else {
+			assert.EqualValues(t, 0, count, "Reports nonzero count for 1mer not present in sequence %v", kmer)
+		}
+	}
+	twomers, _ := variants.AllVariantsIUPAC("NN")
+	for _, kmer := range twomers {
+		count, err := LookupCount(kc, kmer)
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		if kmer == "AA" {
+			assert.EqualValues(t, 11, count, "Wrong count")
+		} else {
+			assert.EqualValues(t, 0, count, "Reports nonzero count for 2mer not present in sequence %v", kmer)
+		}
+	}
+	threemers, _ := variants.AllVariantsIUPAC("NNN")
+	for _, kmer := range threemers {
+		count, err := LookupCount(kc, kmer)
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		if kmer == "AAA" {
+			assert.EqualValues(t, 10, count, "Wrong count")
+		} else {
+			assert.EqualValues(t, 0, count, "Reports nonzero count for 3mer not present in sequence %v", kmer)
+		}
+	}
+}