The spelling of the word "tellis" may seem confusing at first glance, but it follows the rules of English phonetics. The IPA phonetic transcription of "tellis" is /ˈtɛlɪs/, which indicates two syllables and the stress on the first syllable. The "t" at the beginning represents the voiceless dental plosive sound, followed by the "e" sound as in "pet". The double "l" represents the consonant sound, while the "i" is pronounced like "ih". The final "s" represents the voiceless alveolar fricative sound.