#!/usr/bin/env perl 
use strict;
use warnings;

my @AoA = (
    ['first word', 'greek latin'],
    ['alpha omega', 'beta test']
);
my @firsties;

for my $outer (@AoA) {
    for my $inner (@$outer) {
        push @firsties, $inner =~ /^(\w+)/;
    }
}

print "@firsties\n";