You have already been explained what led to the error you got. This is a side issue:

Code:

wcount=`echo $word | wc -m`

You should NOT use backticks for this kind of operation. If you want to run a series of commands and feed the output of these into a variable do it with modern POSIX means instead of outdated (and in the meanwhile deprecated) backticks:

Code:

wcount=$(echo $word | wc -m)

This will do the same but - in sharp contrast to backticks - can even be nested:

Code:

var=$(command1 $(command2 | command3) | command4)

Another thing is this:

Code:

letter=`echo $word | head -c1`

Use parameter substitution for this, which is way faster and uses far less system resources:

Code:

letter="${word%${word#?}}"

I hope this helps.

bakunin