Paris. The city of love. That may not literally hold true anymore, but it’s certainly true in the minds of millions the world over. What’s truly confounding though is why spoken French is pretty much considered the sexiest language around. From TV shows depicting almost all exotic and attractive women (and men) with French accents to songs that are just naturally sensual thanks to them being in a husky French accent, we can all agree that French is a sexy language. Liz Marasco of Mentalfloss did a little digging though, and came up with a few actual reasons why we feel this way, despite the existence of the term ‘omelette du fromage’.
The French language is similar to poetry, as it is syllable-timed rather than stress-timed.
Poetry is always associated with the romantic, so it makes sense that French, which is syllable timed rather than stress-timed, would have a similar effect on people. Specifically, the iambic pentameter in poetry, defined by its rhythm of pairing ten syllables for each line into five pairs. When someone speaks English with a French accent, the inability to choose where to put the stress produces a charming tone and cadence.
French automatically brings out a husky voice in men and a breathy voice in women, something everyone finds attractive.
There have been several studies proving that women find men with husky voices attractive, as they prefer the voice of what is seemingly a large but non-aggressive person. Similarly, men prefer women who sound breathless, or breathy, and not too high-pitched. Most of the common words and syllables in French automatically bring out these qualities.
Vowels in French automatically result in rounded lips and accentuated cheekbones.
The French word une is actually pronounced as eee, but with your lips rounded. This face, in its most basic sense, evokes images of kissing. In other words, it’s the selfie face, bringing out your lips and cheekbones in the most attractive way possible (at least that’s what they say).