Syllable Counter

HTML

<textarea rows="8" cols="3" class="alignright" name="set_a_syllable_count" readonly="readonly" /></textarea>
<textarea rows="8" cols="30" name="set_a">i would appreciate
any help
at all</textarea>

CSS

* {
    font-family:Helvetica;
    font-size:1em;
}

body {
    margin:30px;
}  

.alignright { text-align: right;}

textarea {float:left; }

JavaScript

function $count_how_many_syllables($input) {
    $("[name=set_" + $input + "]").keyup(function () {
        var $content = this.value;
        var word = $content;
        word = word.toLowerCase();
        if (word.length <= 3) {
            word = 1;
        }
        if (word.length == 0) {
            return 0;
        }
        word = word.replace(/(?:[^laeiouy]es|ed|[^laeiouy]e)$/, '');
        word = word.replace(/^y/, '');
        word = word.match(/[aeiouy]{1,2}/g);
        var $syllable_count = word;

        var $result = $syllable_count;
        $("[name=set_" + $input + "_syllable_count]").val($result);
    });
}
$(function () {
    $count_how_many_syllables("a");
});