I’m not a native speaker, but as far as I understood, for singular objects and animals “it” was used. Why use “they” for individual people then?
In: 1400
It’s perceived as more respectful.
Politeness in linguistics is an interesting phenomenon. Across different languages, you find that politeness is usually associated with distancing (e.g saying something like “the gentleman” instead of “you” which is a pattern used in many) as well as more effort on the speaker’s side (using longer, more tedious constructions and forms). Add to this that “it” in English is associated with lower animates and inanimate objects, and it all clicks together.
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