protected static function readWord(\Jstewmc\Stream\Stream $stream) 
	{
		$word = '';
				
		// if the current character is an alphabetic character
		if (ctype_alpha($stream->current())) {
			// loop through the alphabetic characters and build the word
			while (ctype_alpha($stream->current())) {
				$word .= $stream->current();
				$stream->next();
			}
		} else {
			throw new \InvalidArgumentException(
				__METHOD__."() expects the current element in parameter one, characters, "
					. "to be an alphabetic character"	
			);
		}
		
		return $word;
	}