λ♥[love] (Linguistics Love Song)

Copyright Christine Collins, 2010-2011

Need to win the heart of a linguist? It's your lucky day! Here is a convenient, terminology-dropping, non-gender-specific love song for all your linguist-seducing needs.

Usual disclaimers: Audio quality's not great, it doesn't really end very nicely, my friend made me upload it, etc., etc.

Okay, now that part's over, lyrics:

let me have your heart and i will give you love
the denotation of my soul is the above
if there's anything i lack, it's you
as my double brackets, you make me mean things
i can't say enough

consider me your anaphor, i'm bound to you
there's no one else that i could be referring to
your features all attract me
we're such a perfect match, please agree with me
i need to be with you

well i don't know how to say exactly how i feel about you
'cuz it seems my broca's area stops working right around you
forgive me my disfluency, there's nothing i can do, you see
you speak to me, linguistically i'm yours

now i know you tend to isolate, and that's all right
like free morphemes you and i could lead our separate lives
but if we were to agglutinate
together we would do so great
and i'd hate to miss the words we could derive

well i don't know how to say exactly how i feel about you
'cuz it seems my broca's area stops working right around you
forgive me my disfluency, there's nothing i can do, you see
you speak to me, and linguistically i'm yours

so please don't be my allophone and disappear
really awkwardly whenever i start getting near
let's be a minimal pair
'cuz i'm totally cool with us both being there
my environment is better when you're here
my environment is better when you're here
my environment is better when you're here

• Category

  Music

[mattbarros1]

Seriously, I'm on the planning committee for SALT 21 this year and me and a couple of other people are in charge of music for the dinner/dance party - it'd be great if we could play this.

[eastfarthing1420]

That would be totally okay with me. I'm going to try to have a downloadable version available sometime soon; I'll put a link to it in the video description when it's up.

[Nadezh79]

This is awesome. When I'm not listening to it over and over, I'm wandering around humming it.

Would you consider upping the audio quality and making it available as an mp3? I'd pay to download it.

[eastfarthing1420]

Unfortunately my audio editing skills are pretty close to nonexistent, so I don't know what I can do about the sound quality, but it's definitely something I can look into! Thanks for the kind words. XD

[choco6sugar]

This is too amazing. Can I put this up on my linguistics society's website?

[eastfarthing1420]

If you credit me, yes, no problem! :)

[thevoluptuous]

I very much value the features of this song.

[Ladygrev]

This should be required listening for any intro to linguistics course.

[mansione]

Thank you so much for this song!

Sincerely, a phonologist.

[clarabellakoei]

I just fell in love with, is there already a downloadable version?

[Stephen Russell]

Becoming a huge fan of your music

[Mcgareydude]

Proud to study linguistics I love it man....

[Skreth]

I'm studying linguistics, and this is hilarious. I would be wooed by this.

[ShadesRoflbox]

If I ever have a wedding...

[lq91]

this is brilliant!!

[Edward M]

@eastfarthing1420 I hope you don't mind me posting these chords: if you want, I'd be more than happy to remove them. It's your song, after all!

[Edward M]

If I've worked them out correctly, it's a fairly constant chord progression throughout, for both the verses and the choruses: F#, G#, C#, A#m (with the A#m left out during the final line of each verse and chorus). Or, if you prefer, you could put a capo on 2 for a guitar, and play the following: E, F#, B, G#m. Hope this helps!

[MissKatriChikovani]

Awwwwwwww.... i hope one will sing me this song one day!! :')