The Language of Love

What is the most romantic language in the world? I put this question into Google hoping to find out which language generally wins the title of 'most romantic' and on what grounds, but all I could find was the opinions of a few individuals.

I know what you're thinking, how can you possibly know which language to serenade your Valentine in without knowing which is the most romantic? Well panic not, I've had a look into it and I reckon I've got the answer.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner so finding out which of the world's 6,000 languages is the most romantic might seem a bit ambitious, but I think I can narrow it down pretty quickly.

Although we can't be sure exactly who the St Valentine we commemorate on Valentine's Day was, or what he did to become the patron saint of love for that matter, what we do know is that he was Roman and must have done something pretty romantic. So, by that logic, the language that St Valentine spoke would have to be in the running.

Of course, Latin is a dead language, so this leads me to the Romance languages. The major Romance languages are French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish, so-called because they are derived from the everyday language spoken by the Romans, Vulgar Latin.

The Romance languages were used in different parts of the Roman Empire as vernacular (everyday) languages and had replaced Latin as an everyday language by the end of the sixth century. St Valentine aside, the obvious connection between this group of languages and romance is, of course, in their name.

The word 'romance' originates from Middle English where it was used to denote verse composed in the vernacular, to differentiate from works composed in Latin. This is the genre of literature we now know as 'Medieval romance literature'; stories of undying love played out by knights gallivanting around on horseback and nightingales singing at lovers' windows all wrapped up in the impossibly romantic poetry of the verse. Considering this, it's easy to see how the word 'romance' came to acquire the meaning it has today.

So, I'm sure you'll agree, all five of the major romance languages are serious contenders for 'most romantic' but, if I have to pick just one, the fact that the word 'romance' gets its meaning from romance literature means I'm going to have to give it to French. Not only because of the wealth of medieval romance written in the French language but also because of the Frenchman, Charles, Duke of Orleans, who wrote what is said to be the oldest surviving valentine - a love poem for his wife whilst imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1415.

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