The spelling of the word "mcnees" may cause confusion as it doesn't follow the typical English spelling conventions. The phonetic transcription for "mcnees" is /məkˈniːz/. The "mc" combination is often used in Scottish and Irish surnames and is pronounced as a single syllable with a "k" sound. The following "n" and "e" sounds are pronounced as their phonetic symbols indicate. Therefore, "mcnees" is spelled with a "c" and not a "k" as it might be assumed based on its pronunciation.