The spelling of the word "son man" may be confusing to some, as it may not follow traditional phonetic rules. However, the IPA phonetic transcription can help clarify the spelling. "Son man" is pronounced as /sʌn mæn/ which shows that the "o" in "son" is pronounced as a short "u" sound and the "a" in "man" is pronounced as a short "æ" sound. Therefore, the correct spelling of the word is "son man," not "sun man" or "sunman."