invalid initializer

From: Marty M (martymcdonald_at_comcast.net)
Date: 12/31/03 

Date: 30 Dec 2003 21:18:45 -0800

The following causes the "invalid initializer" message during gcc
compile time...
char firstword[] = word(question,1);

the "word" function is...
char * word(char *phrase, int what)
{...body here...}

I'm fairly new to C. What is wrong with the above?
PS: All I'm trying to do is to get the first word on a question, so
I'm tryin to roll my own code, should I use something else? Thanks!
--Marty