I have instaled SQL server 2008 R2 and when I run this SQL in SQL server management studio:
SELECT FULLTEXTSERVICEPROPERTY(\'IsFullTextInstalled\')
>
I just made the test on a new SQL Server 2016 Express installation without fulltext feature (did not used the "Advanced Services" setup).
I can confirm you can perfectly create fulltext catalogs on databases even if fulltext feature is not intalled.
But if you try to create a fulltext index, you'll get a clear error message stating the feature is missing :
Executing :
CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX ON dbo.tbltxt(coltext)
KEY INDEX ui_tbltxt
WITH STOPLIST = SYSTEM;
GO
...will throws error :
Msg 7609, Level 17, State 5, Line 87 Full-Text Search is not installed, or a full-text component cannot be loaded.