Like an alphabet, the phonemes of syllable initials are represented by individual symbols, but like a syllabary, the phonemes of the syllable finals are not; each possible final (excluding the medial glide) has its own character, an example being luan written as ㄌㄨㄢ (l-u-an).
lˈaɪk ɐn ˈælfəbˌɛt, ðə fˈoʊniːmz ʌv sˈɪləbəl ɪnˈɪʃəlz ɑːɹ ɹˌɛpɹᵻzˈɛntᵻd baɪ ˌɪndᵻvˈɪdʒuːəl sˈɪmbəlz, bˌʌt lˈaɪk ɐ sˈɪlɐbˌɛɹi, ðə fˈoʊniːmz ʌvðə sˈɪləbəl fˈaɪnəlz ɑːɹ nˈɑːt; ˈiːtʃ pˈɑːsᵻbəl fˈaɪnəl ɛksklˈuːdɪŋ ðə mˈiːdiːəl ɡlˈaɪd hɐz ɪts ˈoʊn kˈæɹɪktɚ, ɐn ɛɡzˈæmpəl bˌiːɪŋ lˈuːən ɹˈɪʔn̩ æz tʃˈaɪniːzlˌɛɾɚ tʃˈaɪniːzlˌɛɾɚ tʃˈaɪniːzlˌɛɾɚ ˈɛljˈuːæn.