Is there a function in python to split a word into a list?

The easiest way is probably just to use list(), but there is at least one other option as well:

s = "Word to Split"
wordlist = list(s)               # option 1, 
wordlist = [ch for ch in s]      # option 2, list comprehension.

They should both give you what you need:

['W','o','r','d',' ','t','o',' ','S','p','l','i','t']

As stated, the first is likely the most preferable for your example but there are use cases that may make the latter quite handy for more complex stuff, such as if you want to apply some arbitrary function to the items, such as with:

[doSomethingWith(ch) for ch in s]

>>> list("Word to Split")
['W', 'o', 'r', 'd', ' ', 't', 'o', ' ', 'S', 'p', 'l', 'i', 't']

The list function will do this

>>> list('foo')
['f', 'o', 'o']