Emotional Metaphor of Marah (anger) in Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa: An Analysis of the Hybrid Theory

Metaphors conceptualizing emotions (Kövecses 1986, 1988, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2010) represent a well-researched area in the framework of a cognitive theory of metaphor (Lakoff Johnson 1980, 1999). However, this study offers a different analysis of the metaphor MARAH (ANGER) from the above-mentioned work. Transformation in metaphor studies that are related to Cognitive Linguistic approach and Relevance Theory has led to the innovation of a new theory known as the Hybrid Theory. This theory, which was pioneered by Tendahl (2008) and reinvented by Stöver (2010), employs the triple processing known as the inferential, metarepresentational and simulation processes in order to achieve the communicated meaning of metaphorical utterances. The aim is to reflect and manifest regional conceptual thoughts and cognitive processes underlying these utterances. This study of emotion MARAH (ANGER) is based on the famous Malay chronicle entitled, Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. It is claimed that this traditional chronicle has a bounty ofmetaphorical thoughts which are not directly represented but are implicitly projected by using specific utterances or lexicon focusing on emotional symbolization (Hassan, 2003). Hence, this theory is chosen to further explicate the meanings embedded in those symbols especially pertaining to MARAH (ANGER).