Definition
A pesky little particle is a morpheme that is either
- lexically contentless, or
- behaves in a text in a manner that is anomalous with regard to its usual lexical content, and is intractable to grammatical analysis.
Therefore, it usually has a discourse or pragmatic function.
Examples
Here are examples of English pesky particles, when used to relate more than one sentence:
- now
- either
- moreover
Sources 1
- Grimes 1975, 93–94