Buffum is a surname with a curious phonetic transcription. Its first syllable "Buf" is pronounced as "bʌf" which means it has a short "u" sound. Whereas, the last syllable "um" is pronounced as "ʌm" which means it has a short "u" sound followed by the "m" sound. The spelling of this word is unique because the phonetic transcription reveals that the final "um" sound can be represented in other ways, such as "am" or "em". However, the spelling of Buffum remains unaltered!