Anthropocentrism in Contemporary Chinese Dictionary: A Synergic Perspective of Critical Lexicographical Discourse Studies and Systemic Functional Linguistics.

This article examines how anthropocentrism—the ideology that places humans at the center of value and concern—is linguistically manifested in the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (Seventh Edition), China's most authoritative general-purpose Chinese dictionary. Using Critical Lexicographical Discourse Studies (CLDS) combined with Systemic Functional Linguistics, the study analyzes transitivity and appraisal patterns in definitions related to animals and plants, revealing that these non-human entities are rarely assigned agency and are predominantly evaluated based on their utility or harm to humans, with intrinsic value largely ignored. The dictionary emphasizes animals' agricultural, medicinal, economic, and ornamental uses, and plants' medicinal and edible values, reflecting a human-centered worldview. Although the latest edition shows some progress by removing certain encyclopedic information about the exploitation of rare animals, anthropocentrism remains pervasive, highlighting the dictionary's role not only as a descriptive linguistic resource but also as a carrier of cultural ideology that shapes ecological attitudes. The study advocates for eco-friendly lexicography that balances accurate description with critical awareness of ideological implications to foster more equitable representations of non-human life.