Structure and growth of \mathbb{R}-bonacci words

A Sturmian word of slope $q$ is the cutting sequence of a half-line $y=qx$. We establish a bijection between sequences of certain prefixes of the Sturmian word of slope $q$, and the $q$-decreasing words, which are binary words whose maximal factors of the form $0^a1^b$ satisfy $q \cdot a > b$ whenever $a>0$. We also show that the number of $q$-decreasing words of length $n$ grows as $\Phi(q)^{n(1 + o(1))}$, where $\Phi(1)$ is the golden ratio, $\Phi(2)$ is equal to the tribonacci constant, and that the function $\Phi(q)$ is strictly increasing, discontinuous at every rational point, and exhibits a nice fractal structure related to the Stern--Brocot tree and Minkowski's question mark function.