Wrap each first letter of each word in span tag - javascript

Question

I need to wrap each first letter of each word from line with specific css class "eachword" into "span" html tag - using the javascript. Meanwhile I have good worked script, except one issue, the script converts special characters like "&" into html format. So, here's what I have right now:

Before script is applied:

<a class="eachword" href="#">Models & Brands</a>

Script:

<script type="text/javascript">
window.onload = function()
{
    var elements = document.getElementsByClassName("eachword");

    for( var i=0; i<elements.length; i++)
    {
        elements[i].innerHTML = elements[i].innerHTML.replace(/\b([a-z])([a-z]+)?\b/gim, "<span class='firstletter'>$1</span>$2");
    }
}
</script>

Result:

<a class="eachword" href="#"><span class="firstletter">Models &<span class="firstletter">a</span>mp; <span class="firstletter">Brands</span></a>

And I need this result:

<a class="eachword" href="#"><span class="firstletter">Models <span class="firstletter">& </span><span class="firstletter">Brands</span></a>

In "head" tag, I also have jQuery 1.7.2 included.

So, the question is, what's wrong with the code, where did I make mistake? Thanks for attention, hope for your help!

Answer 1

In vanilla JS, a bit faster I think:

var a = document.getElementsByTagName("a");

for (i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
    var words = a[i].innerHTML.split(" ");

    for (j = 0; j < words.length; j++) {
        if(words[j][0] != "&") {
            words[j] = "<span class='firstletter'>" + words[j][0] + "</span>" + words[j].substring(1);
        }
    }

    a[i].innerHTML=words.join(" ");
}

The more modern way:

var anchors = Array.from(document.getElementsByTagName("a"));
anchors.forEach(a => {
  a.innerHTML =
    a.textContent
    .split(' ')
    .map(word => {
      if (word[0] != '&') {
        return `<span class="firstletter">${word[0]}</span>${word.substring(1)}`;
      } else {
        return word;
      }
    })
    .join(' ');
});

JSFiddle .

Answer 2

This seems to work for me, may be a bit clumsy though

$(document).ready(function()
{
    // For each of the eachword class
    $("a.eachword").each(function()
    {
        // Get the string (html) and split it by " " (like PHP's explode)
        var self         = $(this);
        var theText      = self.html();
        var theTextArray = theText.split(" ");

        // Cycle them
        for (var i = 0; i < theTextArray.length; i++)
        {
            // Get this particular word and split it into individual letters
            var thisWord      = theTextArray[i];
            var thisWordArray = thisWord.split("");

            // Wrap the first letter if it is not a HTML char code
            if (thisWordArray[0] != "&")
            {
                thisWordArray[0]  = "<span class='firstletter'>"+thisWordArray[0]+"</span>";
            }

            // Stitch the letters back up
            theTextArray[i] = thisWordArray.join("");
        }

        // Join the original string back up
        var result = theTextArray.join(" ");

        self.html( result );
    });
});

http://jsfiddle.net/SFgXZ/