entry (n.)

A term used in GRAMMATICAL description to refer to the accumulated STRUCTURAL information concerning a LEXICAL item as formally located in a LEXICON or dictionary. A dictionary is seen as a set of lexical entries. The term is also current in PSYCHOLINGUISTICS as part of the mental LEXICON.

In SYSTEMIC GRAMMAR, the phrase entry condition refers to the criterion which must be met in order for a particular grammatical system to become operative. For example, in order to operate the system which contains the choices DECLARATIVE ~ INTERROGATIVE ~ IMPERATIVE, the entry condition requires that the input be a main CLAUSE. The whole of LANGUAGE is viewed as a network of systems of this kind.