The spelling of the word "coupal" may cause confusion for those unfamiliar with its origin. The word comes from Hindi and Urdu and is spelled "kuppal" in those languages. The English spelling has been adapted to match the pronunciation, which can be represented in IPA phonetic transcription as /kuːpəl/. The "ou" represents the long "oo" sound, while the "a" at the end is pronounced with the unstressed schwa sound. Despite its unfamiliar spelling, "coupal" remains a valid word in the English language.