The spelling of the word "unlawlike" can be confusing due to its similarity to the word "unlawful". However, unlike "unlawful", "unlawlike" is spelled with the letter "i" instead of "u". This is because "unlawlike" is derived from the Old English word "lagu", which refers to a legal document or law. The "i" in "unlawlike" represents the sound of the "a" in "lagu", which is transcribed as /æ/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet.