The spelling of the word "McDowall" can be difficult to discern from its pronunciation. In IPA phonetic transcription, the word is spelled /məkˈdaʊl/. The first syllable "mək" begins with the "m" sound followed by the short "ə" vowel sound, pronounced as "uh." The "ˈdaʊl" syllable begins with a stressed "d" sound, followed by the "aʊ" diphthong which sounds like "ow" in "cow", and ends with the "l" consonant sound. It's important to pay attention to spelling cues such as capitalization to correctly identify this name.