diff --git a/mlir/include/mlir/IR/OpImplementation.h b/mlir/include/mlir/IR/OpImplementation.h
--- a/mlir/include/mlir/IR/OpImplementation.h
+++ b/mlir/include/mlir/IR/OpImplementation.h
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@
   /// provide a valid type for the attribute.
   virtual void printAttributeWithoutType(Attribute attr);
 
+  /// Print the given string as an identifier.  The identifer will be
+  /// surrounded with ""s and escaped if it has any special or non-printable
+  /// characters in it.
+  virtual void printIdentifier(StringRef identifier);
+
   /// Print the given string as a symbol reference, i.e. a form representable by
   /// a SymbolRefAttr. A symbol reference is represented as a string prefixed
   /// with '@'. The reference is surrounded with ""'s and escaped if it has any
@@ -686,6 +691,17 @@
   // Identifier Parsing
   //===--------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
+  /// Parse and identifer and store it in a string attribute named 'attrName'.
+  ParseResult parseIdentifier(StringAttr &result) {
+    if (failed(parseOptionalIdentifier(result)))
+      return emitError(getCurrentLocation()) << "expected valid dentifier";
+    return success();
+  }
+
+  /// Parse an optional identifier and store it in a string attribute named
+  /// 'attrName'.
+  virtual ParseResult parseOptionalIdentifier(StringAttr &result) = 0;
+
   /// Parse an @-identifier and store it (without the '@' symbol) in a string
   /// attribute named 'attrName'.
   ParseResult parseSymbolName(StringAttr &result, StringRef attrName,
diff --git a/mlir/lib/IR/AsmPrinter.cpp b/mlir/lib/IR/AsmPrinter.cpp
--- a/mlir/lib/IR/AsmPrinter.cpp
+++ b/mlir/lib/IR/AsmPrinter.cpp
@@ -518,6 +518,7 @@
     // guaranteed to go unused.
     os << "%";
   }
+  void printIdentifier(StringRef) override {}
   void printSymbolName(StringRef) override {}
   void printSuccessor(Block *) override {}
   void printSuccessorAndUseList(Block *, ValueRange) override {}
@@ -1562,6 +1563,19 @@
   });
 }
 
+static void printIdentifier(StringRef identifier, raw_ostream &os) {
+  // If it can be represented as a bare identifier, write it directly.
+  if (!identifier.empty() && isBareIdentifier(identifier)) {
+    os << identifier;
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // Otherwise, output the identifier wrapped in quotes with proper escaping.
+  os << "\"";
+  printEscapedString(identifier, os);
+  os << '"';
+}
+
 /// Print the given string as a symbol reference. A symbol reference is
 /// represented as a string prefixed with '@'. The reference is surrounded with
 /// ""'s and escaped if it has any special or non-printable characters in it.
@@ -2114,6 +2128,11 @@
   impl->printAttribute(attr, Impl::AttrTypeElision::Must);
 }
 
+void AsmPrinter::printIdentifier(StringRef identifier) {
+  assert(impl && "expected AsmPrinter::printIdentifier to be overriden");
+  ::printIdentifier(identifier, impl->getStream());
+}
+
 void AsmPrinter::printSymbolName(StringRef symbolRef) {
   assert(impl && "expected AsmPrinter::printSymbolName to be overriden");
   ::printSymbolReference(symbolRef, impl->getStream());
diff --git a/mlir/lib/Parser/AsmParserImpl.h b/mlir/lib/Parser/AsmParserImpl.h
--- a/mlir/lib/Parser/AsmParserImpl.h
+++ b/mlir/lib/Parser/AsmParserImpl.h
@@ -388,6 +388,24 @@
   // Identifier Parsing
   //===--------------------------------------------------------------------===//
 
+  /// Parse an optional identifier and store it in a string attribute named
+  /// 'attrName'.
+  ParseResult parseOptionalIdentifier(StringAttr &result) override {
+    StringRef keyword;
+    if (succeeded(parseOptionalKeyword(&keyword))) {
+      result = getBuilder().getStringAttr(keyword);
+      return success();
+    }
+
+    std::string string;
+    if (succeeded(parseOptionalString(&string))) {
+      result = getBuilder().getStringAttr(string);
+      return success();
+    }
+
+    return failure();
+  }
+
   /// Parse an optional @-identifier and store it (without the '@' symbol) in a
   /// string attribute named 'attrName'.
   ParseResult parseOptionalSymbolName(StringAttr &result, StringRef attrName,