🚫 Not useful 🔤 No grammar role

functionless

6.5

A word or part of a sentence that does not affect its grammar

adjective
/ˈfʌŋkʃənləs/

Specialized

: sin función

In some languages, certain words are completely functionless and do not affect the sentence structure.

Examples

Linguists debated whether the particle was truly functionless or had a subtle effect on meaning.
The functionless clauses in the sentence confused the students.
The old code contained several functionless commands that could be safely removed.
This word is functionless.
In some languages, certain words are completely functionless and do not affect the sentence structure.
The old code contained several functionless commands that could be safely removed.
Linguists debated whether the particle was truly functionless or had a subtle effect on meaning.

Antonyms

functional

60 4.2

About how something works rather than its structure

Surface Forms

functionless positive

Morphology

functionless = function (transparent) = function + less

The adjective is formed by applying the productive suffix '-less' to 'function' to indicate absence of a role, here specifically a grammatical role.

Etymology

Functionless is made from function meaning 'role' or 'job' and the ending -less meaning 'without'. So in grammar a functionless word is 'without a role', which is why language experts call words 'functionless' when they do not affect sentence structure.