This is an exploratory talk very much of work in progress. First I will introduce my background in evaluating measurements of phonetic similarity in segments. Then I ask how we begin to measure similarity in intonation in a linguistically motivated way? Are the nuclear (final) rises on statements in a variety like Belfast English actually more similar to the nuclear falls in Cambridge statements than to Cambridge question rises, for example? Within Auto-segmental Metrical (AM) theory, we may isolate the key parameters of the alignment and scaling of L and H target points in the contours. One hypothesis is that the Belfast rise emerges from a re-alignment of target points in a statement fall. With reference to changes in phonological association and intonational typology, I explore how many modifications we might need so that a nuclear fall could be phonetically realised as a nuclear rise. Are more modifications necessary to get from a Belfast ?rise? to a Cambridge rise than from a Cambridge fall to a Belfast ?rise??