singular they - What is a proper gender-neutral form of himself or herself





Is there a correct gender-neutral, singular pronoun (“his” versus “her” versus “their”)?
Gender neutral reflexive pronoun — equivalent to “himself” and “herself”



I am thinking "themself" is a very old deprecated way of saying this. What would be more proper?


An example would be:


One does not simply build Rome themself.


It just seems awkward with "themself."



Answer



Singular they is a usage hallowed by time, and, since reflexive pronouns are inflected on both the pronoun root and the -self/-selves reflexive suffix (e.g, my[sg]-self[sg] vs our[pl]-selves[pl]), the correct reflexive for singular they is themself.


Dictionaries, by the way, are not reliable sources for grammar, just as grammars are not reliable sources for lexical meaning.


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