The spelling of the word "gilkey" may seem confusing to some, but it can be easily explained through IPA phonetic transcription. The first syllable of the word is pronounced with a soft "g" sound, represented by the IPA symbol /dʒ/. The second syllable ends with the sound of a long "e", represented by the IPA symbol /i/. The final syllable is pronounced with a soft "k" sound, represented by the IPA symbol /k/. Therefore, "gilkey" is pronounced as /dʒɪlki/.