diff --git a/completions/larch b/completions/larch
index e78ceee8..081e18b0 100644
--- a/completions/larch
+++ b/completions/larch
@@ -4,12 +4,10 @@ have larch || return
 
 _larch()
 {
-    local cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
-
-    if [[ $COMP_CWORD -eq 1 || "$prev" == -* ]]; then
+    if [[ $cword -eq 1 || "$prev" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W ' \
             my-id my-default-archive register-archive whereis-archive archives \
             init-tree tree-root tree-version set-tree-version inventory \
diff --git a/completions/ldapvi b/completions/ldapvi
index f0a17abb..38701096 100644
--- a/completions/ldapvi
+++ b/completions/ldapvi
@@ -4,10 +4,8 @@ have ldapvi || return
 
 _ldapvi()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -h|--host)
diff --git a/completions/lftp b/completions/lftp
index 1de87aec..c3eac68e 100644
--- a/completions/lftp
+++ b/completions/lftp
@@ -3,10 +3,8 @@
 have lftp &&
 _lftp()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -f)
@@ -33,9 +31,8 @@ complete -F _lftp lftp
 have lftpget &&
 _lftpget()
 {
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    local cur
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]] ; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '-c -d -v' -- "$cur" ) )
diff --git a/completions/lilo b/completions/lilo
index ec882968..ad8b2da5 100644
--- a/completions/lilo
+++ b/completions/lilo
@@ -10,10 +10,8 @@ _lilo_labels()
 
 _lilo()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -C|-i|-m|-s|-S)
diff --git a/completions/links b/completions/links
index 766417a2..09a6193d 100644
--- a/completions/links
+++ b/completions/links
@@ -4,10 +4,8 @@ have links || return
 
 _links()
 {
-    local cur
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $cur in
         --*)
diff --git a/completions/lintian b/completions/lintian
index 003d0bd2..c577ece3 100644
--- a/completions/lintian
+++ b/completions/lintian
@@ -81,10 +81,11 @@ _lintian_arches()
 
 _lintian()
 {
-    local cur prev action lint_actions general_opts behaviour_opts \
-          configuration_opts selection_opts
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local action lint_actions general_opts behaviour_opts \
+          configuration_opts selection_opts
 
     lint_actions="--setup-lab --remove-lab --check --check-part --tags \
                   --tags-from-file --ftp-master-rejects --dont-check-part \
@@ -164,9 +165,8 @@ complete -F _lintian lintian
 
 _lintian_info()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case "$prev" in
         -t|--tags)
diff --git a/completions/lisp b/completions/lisp
index 79c45dab..78054e09 100644
--- a/completions/lisp
+++ b/completions/lisp
@@ -5,10 +5,8 @@ have lisp || return
 
 _lisp()
 {
-    local cur
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     # completing an option (may or may not be separated by a space)
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
diff --git a/completions/lrzip b/completions/lrzip
index 3ebbc8a3..0e24f0d4 100644
--- a/completions/lrzip
+++ b/completions/lrzip
@@ -4,9 +4,8 @@ have lrzip || return
 
 _lrzip()
 {
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    local cur prev
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* && $prev != -N ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '-w -d -o -O -S -f -D -q -L -n -l -b -g -M \
diff --git a/completions/lsof b/completions/lsof
index a3332f1d..1a28659a 100644
--- a/completions/lsof
+++ b/completions/lsof
@@ -4,9 +4,8 @@ have lsof || return
 
 _lsof()
 {
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    local cur prev
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -'?'|-h|+c|-c|-d|-F|-i|+r|-r|-s|-S|-T)
diff --git a/completions/lvm b/completions/lvm
index d707a871..b659a2ec 100644
--- a/completions/lvm
+++ b/completions/lvm
@@ -33,13 +33,13 @@ _sizes()
 _args()
 {
     args=0
-    if [[ "${COMP_WORDS[0]}" == lvm ]]; then
+    if [[ "${words[0]}" == lvm ]]; then
         offset=2
     else
         offset=1
     fi
-    for (( i=$offset; i < COMP_CWORD; i++ )); do
-        if [[ "${COMP_WORDS[i]}" != -* ]]; then
+    for (( i=$offset; i < cword; i++ )); do
+        if [[ "${words[i]}" != -* ]]; then
             args=$(($args + 1))
         fi
     done
@@ -47,10 +47,8 @@ _args()
 
 _lvmdiskscan()
 {
-    local cur
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '--debug --help \
@@ -61,10 +59,8 @@ complete -F _lvmdiskscan lvmdiskscan
 
 _pvscan()
 {
-    local cur
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '--debug --exported --novolumegroup \
@@ -76,10 +72,8 @@ complete -F _pvscan pvscan
 
 _pvs()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -o|-O|--options|--sort)
@@ -108,10 +102,8 @@ complete -F _pvs pvs
 
 _pvdisplay()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         --units)
@@ -131,10 +123,8 @@ complete -F _pvdisplay pvdisplay
 
 _pvchange()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|-x|--autobackup|--allocatable)
@@ -156,10 +146,8 @@ complete -F _pvchange pvchange
 
 _pvcreate()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         --restorefile)
@@ -194,10 +182,8 @@ complete -F _pvcreate pvcreate
 
 _pvmove()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -221,10 +207,8 @@ complete -F _pvmove pvmove
 
 _pvremove()
 {
-    local cur
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '--debug --force \
@@ -237,10 +221,8 @@ complete -F _pvremove pvremove
 
 _vgscan()
 {
-    local cur
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '--debug --help \
@@ -252,10 +234,8 @@ complete -F _vgscan vgscan
 
 _vgs()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -o|-O|--options|--sort)
@@ -286,10 +266,8 @@ complete -F _vgs vgs
 
 _vgdisplay()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         --units)
@@ -310,10 +288,8 @@ complete -F _vgdisplay vgdisplay
 
 _vgchange()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -a|-A|-x|--available|--autobackup|--resizeable)
@@ -336,10 +312,8 @@ complete -F _vgchange vgchange
 
 _vgcreate()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -374,10 +348,8 @@ complete -F _vgcreate vgcreate
 
 _vgremove()
 {
-    local cur
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '--debug --help --test \
@@ -390,10 +362,8 @@ complete -F _vgremove vgremove
 
 _vgrename()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -413,10 +383,8 @@ complete -F _vgrename vgrename
 
 _vgreduce()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -443,10 +411,8 @@ complete -F _vgreduce vgreduce
 
 _vgextend()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -475,10 +441,8 @@ complete -F _vgextend vgextend
 
 _vgport()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '--all --debug \
@@ -491,10 +455,8 @@ complete -F _vgport vgimport vgexport
 
 _vgck()
 {
-    local cur
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '--debug \
@@ -507,10 +469,8 @@ complete -F _vgck vgck
 
 _vgconvert()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -M|--metadatatype)
@@ -539,10 +499,8 @@ complete -F _vgconvert vgconvert
 
 _vgcfgbackup()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -f|--file)
@@ -563,10 +521,8 @@ complete -F _vgcfgbackup vgcfgbackup
 
 _vgcfgrestore()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -f|--file)
@@ -595,10 +551,8 @@ complete -F _vgcfgrestore vgcfgrestore
 
 _vgmerge()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -618,10 +572,8 @@ complete -F _vgmerge vgmerge
 
 _vgsplit()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -651,10 +603,8 @@ complete -F _vgsplit vgsplit
 
 _vgmknodes()
 {
-    local cur
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '--debug --help --verbose \
@@ -667,10 +617,8 @@ complete -F _vgmknodes vgmknodes
 
 _lvscan()
 {
-    local cur
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '--blockdevice --debug \
@@ -682,10 +630,8 @@ complete -F _lvscan lvscan
 
 _lvs()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -o|-O|--options|--sort)
@@ -713,10 +659,8 @@ complete -F _lvs lvs
 
 _lvdisplay()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         --units)
@@ -736,10 +680,8 @@ complete -F _lvdisplay lvdisplay
 
 _lvchange()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -a|-A|-C|-M|--available|--autobackup|--continguous|--persistent)
@@ -767,10 +709,8 @@ complete -F _lvchange lvchange
 
 _lvcreate()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|-C|-M|-Z|--autobackup|--continguous|--persistent|--zero)
@@ -811,10 +751,8 @@ complete -F _lvcreate lvcreate
 
 _lvremove()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -834,10 +772,8 @@ complete -F _lvremove lvremove
 
 _lvrename()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -857,10 +793,8 @@ complete -F _lvrename lvrename
 
 _lvreduce()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -885,10 +819,8 @@ complete -F _lvreduce lvreduce
 
 _lvresize()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -919,10 +851,8 @@ complete -F _lvresize lvresize
 
 _lvextend()
 {
-    local cur prev
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     case $prev in
         -A|--autobackup)
@@ -953,12 +883,10 @@ complete -F _lvextend lvextend
 
 _lvm()
 {
-    local cur
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur
-
-    if [ $COMP_CWORD -eq 1 ]; then
+    if [ $cword -eq 1 ]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W 'dumpconfig help lvchange \
             lvcreate lvdisplay lvextend lvmchange \
             lvmdiskscan lvmsadc lvmsar lvreduce \
@@ -971,7 +899,7 @@ _lvm()
             vgremove vgrename vgs vgscan vgsplit \
             version' -- "$cur" ) )
     else
-        case ${COMP_WORDS[1]} in
+        case ${words[1]} in
             pvchange)
                 _pvchange
                 ;;
diff --git a/completions/lzma b/completions/lzma
index 8b87e5a2..7a74368e 100644
--- a/completions/lzma
+++ b/completions/lzma
@@ -4,10 +4,8 @@ have lzma || return
 
 _lzma()
 {
-    local cur prev xspec
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 \
@@ -17,9 +15,8 @@ _lzma()
         return 0
     fi
 
-    local IFS=$'\n'
+    local IFS=$'\n' xspec="*.@(lzma|tlz)"
 
-    xspec="*.@(lzma|tlz)"
     if [[ "$prev" == --* ]]; then
         [[ "$prev" == --decompress || \
             "$prev" == --list || \
diff --git a/completions/lzop b/completions/lzop
index 53f6750f..b2f2a94e 100644
--- a/completions/lzop
+++ b/completions/lzop
@@ -4,10 +4,8 @@ have lzop || return
 
 _lzop()
 {
-    local cur prev xspec
-
-    COMPREPLY=()
-    _get_comp_words_by_ref cur prev
+    local cur prev words cword
+    _init_completion || return
 
     if [[ "$cur" == -* ]]; then
         COMPREPLY=( $( compgen -W '-1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -P \
@@ -34,7 +32,7 @@ _lzop()
             ;;
     esac
 
-    xspec="*.?(t)lzo"
+    local xspec="*.?(t)lzo"
     case $prev in
         --decompress|--uncompress|--extract|--list|--ls|--info|--test)
             xspec="!"$xspec
@@ -44,7 +42,7 @@ _lzop()
             ;;
         --*)
             ;;
-        -*f*|'<'|'>')
+        -*f*)
             xspec=
             ;;
         -*[dltx]*)