$s = 'PHP programming language';
$arr = preg_split('/ /', $s, -1, PREG_SPLIT_OFFSET_CAPTURE);
echo "<pre>";
print_r($arr);
echo "</pre>";
/*
run:
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[0] => PHP
[1] => 0
)
[1] => Array
(
[0] => programming
[1] => 4
)
[2] => Array
(
[0] => language
[1] => 16
)
)
*/