nékül

Nélkül is a Hungarian postposition meaning "without." It marks absence or lack in relation to the noun or clause it accompanies. In ordinary usage, it follows the noun or pronoun and forms clear phrases such as víz nélkül (without water) and idő nélkül (without time). The particle is invariable; it does not inflect for number or case.

The word also appears in pronoun-bound forms. When attached to a personal pronoun, it often creates a single-word form: nélkülem (without me), nélküled (without you). These forms are commonly used in sentences to express dependence or absence of the person indicated.

In addition to standing after nouns, the concept can be built into adjectives with the suffix - nélküli, meaning "without [something]." These phrases are two words: [noun] nélküli. Examples include élet nélküli (lifeless) and érintkezés nélküli (without contact). Such formations are used in literary and formal registers to describe objects, situations, or conditions that lack a specified attribute.

Relation to other words: nélküli is related to noun-based constructions like nélküli élet (a life without), or famine terms such as nélkülözés (privation, lack), which derives from the same root concept of lacking something.

Overall, nélküli serves as a versatile tool in Hungarian for expressing absence, whether as a standalone postposition following a noun or as a component of compound adjectives describing what is not present.

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