When I first studied French in college, it was so much fun. It felt so glamorous, so interesting, so right. I had never known anyone who spoke another language (remember, I grew up in a really small town.) I devoured my French classes and even began to think in some French instead of English. Instead of thinking of the word “here,” the French word “ici” (ee-see) would pop into my head. I’m always trying to work on it and improve, and this article from the website Frenchly by Jenny Hughes makes me want to work on it even more. Because seriously, if I can speak French and sound sexy at the same time, well, what more could I want?
Read, and enjoy.
Many of you will read this title, roll your eyes, and say, “It’s not that sexy.” Boyfriends will claim it to their Francophile girlfriends, and parents will say it to college-age kids begging to go to l’Hexagone to find that evasive French study abroad fling. And as someone who works with a bunch of French people, it makes me go:
Not only is French often voted the sexiest language, it’s also often voted the sexiest accent. 15,000 users on the language app Babbel voted it sexiest in the world. 63% of Australians, 43% of Americans, and 47% of Italians found it hot hot hot. Pride, envy, and not wanting to boost my coworkers’ egos aside, there are real, linguistic reasons that French is a sexy language.
It’s breathy
According to a study by the University College London, women find husky voices sexiest, and men find breathy voices sexiest. (Ding ding ding! We have a winner!) French is so breathy, it sounds like whispering (one of my many grievances with French). The breathiness comes the forming of sounds at the front of the mouth and the frequency of vowels in the language. If you’ve forgotten, a vowel is a sound made without any obstruction in the vocal tract, thus being a breathy sound. Vowel count is often debated, but according to Wikipedia, French has 13 oral vowels and 4 nasal vowels, plus 3 semivowels and 3 glides, totaling 23. American English has 14-16. As a vowel-filled language, it makes sense that French is so breathy, and therefore sexy.
It’s melodic
In English we use stress to distinguish between words. For example, the emphasis on “contract” changes depending on if you’re talking about the noun or the verb (CON-tract vs con-TRACT). Intonation (pitch) can also emphasize different parts of the sentence and change the meaning (e.g., I didn’t steal the cookies vs. I didn’t steal the cookies). In French, they use neither stress nor intonation on any certain syllables. Words are always stressed the same way with emphasis on the middle rather than the end (e.g., “Paris” is pronounced “Paree”), and there are four primary patterns of intonation. When the the stress is consistently in the same place and the pitch changes follow similar patterns, a rhythm is established, giving the language a semblance of poetry.
It’s smooth
English suffers from over pronunciation. We say most every consonant and every syllable and we pop ‘em. Emphasis everywhere and anywhere! France, on the other hand drop consonants (“Lefebvre” is pronounced without the “b”), and sounds at the end of words (“Logement” basically doesn’t have a “t” sound at the end). This gives them them the ability to slur words together. If the end of a word is a consonant, and the beginning of the next word is a vowel, those words are joined. Even if the consonant is one you don’t pronounce, when it joins with the vowel, you pronounce it. That doesn’t work in English, “hot air” does not become “hotair.” But in French… “Vous aimez” becomes “vousaimez” – it’s lovely and smooth, and not. at. all. cho. ppy.
It’s soft
French happens in the mouth, lips, and nose. English happens in the mouth, lips, nose, sinuses, and throat. One of the most different sounds between the two languages is the “r” sound. When Americans say “crack,” the “r” comes from the roof of the mouth and tongue. When the French say “craque,” the “r” comes from the uvula, making a softer sound. Vowels tinged with r-sounds are called rhotic vowels. French has one (like in roue); English has four. The absence of “r” sounds and their silencing through the uvula keep French sounding soft.
It’s the mouth
So much of French is spoken using the mouth and lips. They make excellent “O” shapes with their mouths because they actually have that sound. Americans say “ew” much more than “oo” (e.g., “who” is more like “hew”). And we love the “O” shaped mouth. Want proof? Duck face.
It’s a cultural connection
Dr. Nigel Armstrong, a lecturer in French and sociolinguistics at the University of Leeds, links the sex-appeal in French to the culture, not the language. “Any accent is just a series of sounds,” he says. “The explanation of why we find French sexy and charming is cultural and social.”
Feel free to disagree, everyone has a preference and that’s fine. But now you know.
Great article! So interesting and informative. As a student of French, I’ve noticed that my voice goes down a couple of octaves when I speak the language. I never quite knew why that happened, except that I FEEL sexy when I speak French. Now I understand that speaking French uses so much more of the throat muscles than English does. Many thanks for illuminating me!
Thanks Amy! When I speak French my voice seems to go up and there’s a lilt that I don’t use when I’m speaking English. Et c’est vrai, que vous êtes sexy! Just ask Jay.
So love this article; and have thought so many times how I wish I still had my little Les Miserables novel our French teacher in high school gave us to read. In fact, it may still be in a box somewhere and maybe I will run across on a rainy day. I also had a course my Freshman year in college, but alas, was not that “into” the tiny little professor who looked like he was at least 101 at the time.
Well, maybe you just need to find a younger, sexier instructor! Bet that’s all you would need to be “into” learning French again. Ha ha, thanks for the comment!
Hi Suzette!
I enjoyed reading your blog post this morning. You’re such a good writer. I learned alot from this post too! Hoping to get back to some French lessons again soon. I look forward to meeting you in October!
Ladelle
Thanks Ladelle! I’ve had a goal of becoming fluent for so long, but life and other demands constantly get in my way of spending time to work on my French. No more excuses for us, okay? See you in October!