The word "bahl" is a homophone of the more commonly spelled word "ball," but it is pronounced with a different vowel sound. The IPA phonetic transcription for the word "bahl" is /bæl/. This transcription indicates that the word is pronounced with a short "a" sound (as in "cat") followed by an "l" sound. The spelling of the word "bahl" is unusual, but it serves to distinguish it from the more common spelling of "ball" while maintaining its auditory similarity.