A corpus-based investigation on approximations Shàngxià and zuǒyòu in Mandarin

Shàngxià and zuǒyòu are a pair of postpositional approximations in Mandarin, which are typically placed after numerals or measure words to modify the preceding component. This study aims to investigate the distributional differences of shàngxià and zuǒyòu, as well as their imprecision, and to propose pedagogical suggestions. Accordingly, we primarily use the Behavioral Profile Analysis in the Corpus of Contemporary Taiwanese Mandarin (COCT) to establish ID tags for comparing and contrasting shàngxià and zuǒyòu in both written and spoken registers. Moreover, in addition to verifying the categories of classifiers, this study analyzes the cognitive reference points and the degree of imprecision of approximate quantifiers that modify integers. The significance of the current findings is illustrated in three aspects. First, regarding the co-occurrence of quantifiers with approximations, the most notable distinction between shàngxià and zuǒyòu lies in the high compatibility of zuǒyòu with temporal approximation, a characteristic rarely observed in shàngxià. Unlike the specificity associated with time points, zuǒyòu more often pairs with periods, which is less precise. The primary pairings for shàngxià are approximations of age and monetary units. Compared to shàngxià, zuǒyòu shows broader compatibility with numerals, quantifiers, and syntactic constructions. Secondly, the imprecision of spoken language promotes the use of coarse-grained vocabulary, such as round numbers. Speakers often pair these with approximate adverbs (e.g., dàgài, dàyuē) to soften the meaning. Moreover, this research highlights the stacking of adverbs in spoken language, such as dàgài chàbùduō, whereas this usage is less prevalent in written language. Third, regarding pedagogical applications, we suggest expanding beyond the basic “numeral + measure word + zuǒyòu” pattern. Instructors should introduce diverse syntactic constructions, such as the particle structure “…zuǒyòu + de + noun” and prepositional phrases (e.g., zài…zuǒyòu). Meanwhile, the less frequent shàngxià should be reserved primarily for approximations of age and monetary contexts in advanced levels.