When we say that grammatically 'oysters' consists of 'oyster' + 's', we mean that that is how it is put together as a piece of wording. In the same sense, 'kindness' consists of 'kind' + 'ness', 'shining' of 'shine' + 'ing', 'largest' of 'large' + 'est', 'wheelbarrow' of 'wheel' + 'barrow'. There is nothing in the writing to show this structure; but we know – because we understand English – that this is how these words are built up out of smaller pieces. The smaller units are called MORPHEMES.
- Halliday (1985), a pag.20

The term ʻmorphemeʼ is a creation of modern linguistics, as the name for the smallest unit in the grammatical constituent hierarchy.
- Halliday (1985), a pag.25