Linguistic Anthropology.

Examines the learning of politeness patterns in human beings. Many studies have shown that women express politeness in speech more often and more explicitly than men, using more compliments and apologies and interrupting less often. However, researchers have not established the age at which this gender difference is acquired or the mechanisms by which it is established. Past research has suggested that children's speech is modeled on parental speech and therefore children use gender-specific language at an early age.