Cutting down variables

is it possible to cut down a variable if it is too long, e.g

my name is max

BUT if the cut off was after 11 characters i want it to look like this:

my name is m....

BUT i want to be able to have a link that would show the whole variable, so destrying the original variable to create one with dots is not ok.

can you do a STR_REPLACE()???? or something

so i understand fully could you use these variables:

<?php
$name="my name is max";
?>

THANKS !!!!!!!!!!!

<?php
$name="my name is max";
echo substr($name,0,10);