What is the world’s sexiest accent?

Everyone has a certain accent they’re attracted to. Whether it be the smooth romance of Spanish or the upscale pronunciation of the Queen’s English, an accent is a major asset in the wooing of prospective amores. But what is the sexiest accent in the world?

Well, it depends on who you ask. Every country has different tastes. A survey of over 15,000 people performed by Babbel suggests there is one accent that is almost universally attractive, though: français. The only people who seemed to disagree were France’s neighbours in Spain, who find Italians more alluring. And what do the French think? They agree with the Spanish, and fall for l’accento italiano.

The full list can be seen here:

The World’s* Sexiest Accents

1. 1. French
2. 2. Italian
3. 3. Spanish
4. 4. English
5. 5. German
6. 6. Portuguese
7. 7. Swedish
8. 8. Russian
9. 9. Dutch (tied)
10. 9. Turkish (tied)

*It should be noted that the “world” in this survey comprises Brazil, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia. So, the Western world.

So, what makes an accent sexy? Some academics believe that it has to do with the sound quality of different languages, meaning that we’re more attracted to accents that are somewhat musical in tone but that still seem familiar to our own ears. This theory does seem to correspond with the fact that French and Italian top the list, and why a survey of Western countries resulted in so few non-Western sexy accents. It can even help explain why Spain chose Italian, because Italian is closer to Spanish than French is.

However, this may not be the only reason - others theorise that our attitude towards accents comes from our own beliefs about the people that possess them. Returning to accent-hotness, it would make sense if people found the French accent most attractive because of their beliefs about the French people. After all, the trope of the sexy French maid permeates our media, and Paris is widely considered the city of love. In contrast, German is often said to be harsh and ugly sounding, but perhaps that’s just because Germans are so often depicted during the worst part of their history.

There’s still plenty of debate in the linguistic community over accent evaluation, so it can’t be said for sure what drives our attractions. However, what we do know is this: if you have a thing for accents, where it’s French, Italian, or otherwise, it’s probably because the sound feels familiar, or because you have some pre-held ideas about people from that country. If your accent hasn’t made it to the top of the list, don’t worry. The sexiest accent is really just a state of mind and someone out there will be bound to swoon over your own distinct sound. Just make sure you’re basing the relationship off of more than accent-attraction alone!

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