N. V. Tatsenko introduction to theoretical phonetics of english

We can now move on from examples of 'yes' and 'no' and see how some of these tones can be applied to other words, either single-syllable words or words of more than one syllable. In the case of polysyllabic words, it is always the most strongly stressed syllable that receives the tone; the tone mark is equivalent to a stress mark. Examples:
Fall (usually suggests a “final” or “definite” feeling)
xstop ч eighty avgain
Rise (often suggesting a question)
/sure /really to /night
When a speaker is giving a list of items, they often use a rise on each item until the last, which has a fall, for example:
You can have it in / red, /blue, /green or чblack
Fall-rise (often suggesting uncertainty or hesitation) vsome v nearly pervhaps
Fall-rise is sometimes used instead of rise in giving lists.
Rise—fall (often sounds surprised or impressed)
Aoh л lovely iAmmense
The change in the pitch of the word which is most important semantically, is called a nuclear tone. It may be preceded or followed by stressed and unstressed syllables. Stressed syllables preceding the nucleus together with the intervening unstressed syllables form the head of a tone unit. Initial unstressed syllables make the pre-head. Unstressed and half- stressed syllables following the nucleus are called the tail.
Usually a nucleus will be present in a tone unit; other elements may not be realised, i. e. the possibilities for combining the elements of a tone unit may be as follows: