The spelling of the word "ellerby" can be explained using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) phonetic transcription. The word is pronounced as /ɛlərbi/. The first syllable "el" is pronounced as /ɛl/ and the second syllable "er" is pronounced as /ər/. The final syllable "by" is pronounced as /bi/. This phonetic transcription shows that the "e" in the first syllable is pronounced as the short "e" sound and the "y" in the final syllable is pronounced as the traditional "i" sound.