Translators have named Italian the world's most romantic language in a recent poll, threatening French's status as the "language of love."

However, the survey also revealed that the French word "amour" was the number one word for "love."

Today Translations, based in London, England, carried out the research in the run-up to Valentine's Day. Italian and French were the runaway winners selected by the firm's 320 linguists, far ahead of Spanish and English, in joint-third place.

"Bellissima," meaning "very beautiful" in both Italian and Spanish, was a popular word, in second place, followed by "tesoro," meaning "treasure," also shared by the two languages. "Dolcezza," (sweetness) and "inamorata" (enamoured) came in fourth and fifth.

Participants were also asked to pick the least romantic words and phrases. Unsurprisingly, Klingon, the fictional alien language created for the TV show Star Trek, was considered rather unromantic, with "Qaparha" being voted one of the most unromantic ways to say, "I love you."

The Welsh "Rydw i'n dy garu di," was also deemed unattractive, but the long-winded Japanese phrase "Watakushi-wa anata-wo ai shimasu" was declared the least desirable way to declare one's love.

Meanwhile, British cell phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has taken a more modern approach to the language of love.

The company has translated some of the best-loved romantic poetry into modern text-speak, The Sun (London) reports. The Shakespearean sonnet "Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate" becomes "Shll I sez u r like a smmrz day? U r more fit n gr8."

Ken Thomson of the Queen's English Society dissented, however, lamenting the changing English language, saying, "Romance has been lost and replaced with symbols, made-up words and abbreviations, removing all the meaning and emotion that language has been developed to convey."

14 February 2010