We consider numbers of the form S_β(u): = ∑_{n=0}^∞ (u_n)/(βⁿ), where u = ⟨u_n⟩_{n=0}^∞ is an infinite word over a finite alphabet and β ∈ ℂ satisfies |β| > 1. Our main contribution is to present a combinatorial criterion on u, called echoing, that implies that S_β(u) is transcendental whenever β is algebraic. We show that every Sturmian word is echoing, as is the Tribonacci word, a leading example of an Arnoux-Rauzy word. We furthermore characterise ̅{ℚ}-linear independence of sets of the form {1, S_β(u₁),…,S_β(u_k)}, where u₁,…,u_k are Sturmian words having the same slope. Finally, we give an application of the above linear independence criterion to the theory of dynamical systems, showing that for a contracted rotation on the unit circle with algebraic slope, its limit set is either finite or consists exclusively of transcendental elements other than its endpoints 0 and 1. This confirms a conjecture of Bugeaud, Kim, Laurent, and Nogueira.