def syllableHelper(word):
    """
    # syllableHelper is a function that is a building block for a function
    # that counts syllables.  It transforms a word by doing two things:
    #   (1) changing all vowels to the letter a
    #   (2) removing all consecutive duplicates
    # parameter word should be a string--if not return boolean value False
    # otherwise, return another string, with all vowels changed to the letter a,
    #     and consecutive duplicates removed
    # examples:
    #   syllableHelper("by") produces "ba"
    #   syllableHelper("alien") produces "alan"
    #   syllableHelper("boot") produces "bat"
    #   syllableHelper("fruition") produces "fratan"
    # Note: empty string is legal, and should return empty string
    """
    if type(word)!=str:
       return False
    if word=='':
        return ''
    List=['a','e','i','o','u','y','A','E','I','O','U','Y']
    I=len(word)
    J=len(List)
    j=0
    i=0
    lista=list(word)
    result=''
    
    for i in range(0,I):
        for j in range(0,J-1):
        
            if word[i]==List[j]:
                lista[i]='a'

                word=''.join(lista)
                
            else:
                j=j+1
    for k in range(0,I):
        if word[k-1]!=word[k]:
            result+=word[k]
    if word[0]=='a' and result[0]!='a':
        result=word[0]+result
                  
    return result