A child's gender can be detected in their speech from age five, research says

University of Minnesota academics say boys and girls pick up speech cues from adults around them, resulting in differences

The gender of children can be picked up from their speech from as young as five years old, researchers have revealed.

While male and female children have no physiological reason for sounding different before puberty, when changes to the larynx kick in, researchers say boys and girls pick up telltale speech cues from adults around them, resulting in perceptible differences in their speech.