The spelling of the word "study" might seem straightforward, but there's a trick when it comes to the pronunciation of the middle syllable. Instead of sounding like "stuh-dee," the correct pronunciation includes a short "uh" sound followed by a separate "dee" sound. This is indicated in IPA phonetic transcription as /ˈstʌd.i/. To make things more complicated, if you add a stress mark to indicate emphasis (as in "study at acuteacute"), the transcription becomes /ˌæ.kjuːt.ˈæ.kjuːt/. So remember, it's not just "stuh-dee," it's "stuh-duh-ee."