Vocabulary Building Game Cards And Holder

Abstract

The present invention comprises a vocabulary building card game wherein two or more sets or decks of cards bear word parts which have word definitions such as roots and affixed of the same type respectively are employed. Each card also bears on the reverse side the definition of its respective root or affix. A dealing rack or holder is provided to receive the decks of cards in respective selection positions and is adapted to permit withdrawal of the cards without previous exposure of the word part displayed thereon. The holder is marked at the different selection positions to indicate which particular word part deck is there positioned.

Parent Case Text

CROSS-REFERENCE

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 754,030, filed Aug. 20, 1968 entitled Vocabulary Game, and now abandoned.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a card game and more specifically a vocabulary building game used for educational and amusement purposes.

The primary object of vocabulary building games is to provide a game which is enjoyable for the individual to play and thereby encourages one to increase his vocabulary with efficiency.

However, the vocabulary games in existence at the present time require the learning of new words merely by memorization of the word itself. An example of such a game is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,265,334. However, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a vocabulary building game which requires memorization only of the smallest word or word part that conveys meaning or has a word definition and cannot be further divided into a smaller element such as roots and affixes. By knowing the meaning of all word parts, one can readily learn and recognize the meanings of new words by using and recognizing combinations of these words or word parts.

On the other hand, most all vowels and consonants per se convey no meaning in and of themselves and therefore are unsuitable for vocabulary games when used either alone or in combination with morphemes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The game of the present invention utilizes the principal of morpheme recognition wherein parts of words used in distinguishing word meaning are identified. The game requires knowledge of word roots and affixes such as prefixes, suffixes and infixes. Thus, a principal object of the present invention is to teach the players the make up of words and their meanings and how they are to be applied to other words. By understanding and knowing the definition of word parts one can readily combine these word parts in different manners to obtain new words and to recognize the meaning of words which they would not otherwise be familiar with.

The present invention is a vocabulary building game which generally comprises a plurality of predetermined sets of word display objects such as cards or the like. Each set of cards bears either affixes of the same type or roots, respectively. In other words, each card set contains one morpheme group wherein the morpheme groups consist of affixes of the same type such as all prefixes or all suffixes or all roots. A dealing rack or holder is provided to receive the sets of display elements in respective selection positions and is adapted to permit withdrawal of the display elements without previous exposure of the morpheme group displayed thereon. The combination of the dealing holder with its received display elements includes exposed indicia means at the respective selection positions to indicate the morpheme group there positioned.

Each card may also be provided with the definition of its respective root or affix and preferably on the reverse side thereof.

Each card may also be provided with a numeral thereon to indicate the scoring value of the card with the higher scoring values on cards bearing infrequently used prefixes, roots, suffixes or infixes.

The cards may also be provided with a usage example of its respective affix or root. Such examples enhance player memory ability.

Another object of the present invention is to provide each separate deck or set of cards with its own individual color. This permits the cards to be easily separated into their own decks or sets. It also provides a means for quick recognition of the type of word part or morpheme with which the player is dealing with at the time.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the following description and claims.

The drawings show for the purposes of exemplification without limiting the invention or claims thereto, certain practical embodiments illustrating the principles of this invention wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the faces of nine cards, three cards to each set wherein each set displays a different morpheme word group.

FIG. 2 is a rear view illustrating the reverse side of the top cards appearing in each set of FIG. 1, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the combination of card decks with a dealing holder in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

As previously mentioned, the card game of the present invention deals only with the smallest word elements which still retain meaning or have definitions in and of themselves. It can be readily seen that by learning these morpheme word elements that one will automatically recognize the meaning of all words which are made up of a combination of these elements. By understanding the meaning of each element, one can readily understand and know a word made up of any combination thereof.

Referring to FIG. 1, the vocabulary building card game of the present invention is illustrated in one embodiment wherein three sets of cards A, B, and C, are provided. Each set of cards represents a different morpheme group and in this instance set A represents word prefixes and set B represents word roots and set C represents word suffixes.

FIG. 1 merely illustrates three cards from each different set or deck whereas under normal playing conditions each deck would contain many more cards.

It is further obvious that more or less decks or sets of cards may be employed as desired. For example, the game may be played with four sets of cards by using word infixes as an additional morpheme group. It is also obvious upon viewing the present invention that one may play the game with only two decks or sets of cards which bear for example only roots and suffixes, respectively, or only prefixes and roots, respectively.

The rules of play, of course, may vary greatly depending upon the desires and skills of the particular players involved. As one example the game may be played in three different phases.

The first phase of the game would concern the use of the root cards or the B deck only and the second phase of the game would be played with the root and prefix cards A and B alone and the third phase would be played with the root, prefix and suffix cards B, A and C, respectively.

If desired, each deck might contain many hundreds of cards bearing different word morphemes. Furthermore, some of these word parts which have meaning or morphemes may be repeated throughout each individual deck.

As an example of some of the morphemes which might be employed in the way of prefixes, roots and suffixes, a list is set forth hereinafter of examples of each of these different word groups together with their individual word definitions which preferably appear on the reverse side of the card.

Prefix Definition Root Definition __________________________________________________________________________ ambi both agri field bi two chrom color contra against derm skin dec ten ethno race en in facil easy hemi half ge earth hyper over hem blood multi many jun join omni all legis law pan all mega great pro forward nomy law se aside ocul eye sug under ped foot terr land sen old uni one zo animal __________________________________________________________________________

Suffix Definition __________________________________________________________________________ an designating, belonging to ant one who acts ard rd does something excessively ble capable of, worthy of el to make into, to practice full inclined to ify full of, to make, state of ing conveys idea itis inflammation of let little or one who acts ous state or quality phobia fear of some like, same ure act or process, result of __________________________________________________________________________

A dealing rack or holder is provided with individual compartments or selection positions to receive each different set or deck of cards illustrated in FIG. 3. The holder 4 is adapted to permit the withdrawal of a card, such as by exposing a corner thereof, without permitting one to view the indicia displayed on either face of the card before the same is withdrawn from the compartment.

The combination of the holder 4 with the respectively received card decks or sets A, B and C is provided with indicia means at the respective selection positions to indicate the morpheme group there positioned. Here, the rack or holder 4 is marked with P, R and S to indicate the respective selection positions of prefixes, roots and suffixes.

However, this indicia means may also be carried out by providing each card set with a different color as is illustrated, or by marking the exposed portions of the cards with a P, R or S, respectively, instead of the holder itself.

The dealing holder is also unique in that it utilizes the game box 5 itself. Thus holder 4 in reality consists of the box 5, having lid 6 and bottom 7, and card cover 8. Card cover 8, in this instance, is manufactured of cardboard and comes originally packaged in box 5 with the cards and game directions.

When put into use, the cards and cover 8 are removed from box 5 and box 5 is closed and inverted as shown. The outside downwardly pending side flanges 9 of cover 8 are inserted in the opening between lid 6 and bottom 7. Thus, as the cards are removed from under cover 8, the side flanges 9 are gradually further introduced into box 5 between lid 6 and bottom 7 to assure that the morpheme indicia on the cards is always covered and not exposed as the decks are diminished in size.

It can be noted from FIG. 1 that the cards of each deck are given the same color and each deck is given a different color from an adjacent deck. In this instance the root deck B contains green cards and the prefix group A contains yellow cards and the suffix group C contains red cards. The color of the cards signifies the degree of difficulty in playing the game in the progression of phases as previously mentioned and further identifies the set. In other words, when root cards alone are used first and alone, it is somewhat easier for the player to give the definition of the root. However, when the root cards are combined with the prefix cards and meaningful combinations must be made of the two or definitions of both must be given then the game becomes more difficult, the score naturally increases in correspondence to the difficulty.

Thus, the root cards are colored with green to indicate "go" (meaning less difficult), the prefix cards are therefore colored yellow to indicate caution and greater difficulty. When cards from all three sets or decks of cards are used together to formulate words made up of morphemes from the prefix, root and suffix decks together, the game naturally becomes more complex and the suffix cards are therefore colored red to indicate "stop" meaning that the difficulty of giving the definition of the completed word or each morpheme individually has become much more difficult. The understanding of this color coding will become much more apparent upon reviewing the example rules set forth hereinafter.

Assuming the game is to be played in three different phases as mentioned previously, the first phase is started by a player drawing one card from the root cards or deck B. The player keeps the card with the face up on the playing surface. The player must then give orally the meaning of the root which the card bears. The player may then verify his answer by turning over the card to the reverse side where the definition is given together with an example use of the root in a word as is clearly illustrated in FIG. 2.

It may be seen from the drawings that the top card 1 in the B deck of FIG. 1 contains the root "tend." Assuming that the player withdraws this card from the deck, he would then give the definition of this root and verify the same by turning the card 1 over to reveal its reverse side as indicated in FIG. 2. The definition of the root "tend" is given as "to strech" and an example of how the root would be employed in a word is given at the bottom. Here the example given is "pretending" and the morpheme in question is underlined to emphasize its position in the example. Likewise the definition of the prefix and suffix is also given on the back of its respective card together with an example use as seen by cards 2 and 3 in FIG. 2.

If the player's answer is correct then the player may receive for example 1 point. If the answer is incorrect then no point is given. The other players may then repeat the same steps.

To add further excitement to the game and give it more of a flavor of a game of chance, the decks may be provided with wild cards that may be used to represent any desired morpheme which the player may select.

This phase 1 of drawing root cards may be continued as long as desired or as one might set by the rules whereafter phase 2 may be started. In phase 2 both a root and prefix card are drawn and the player must orally give the meanings of each card. If his answer is correct then he may receive a point for each correct answer.

The game may further be enhanced by providing bonus points to the player if the prefix and root card may be combined to spell a word.

The drawing of just roots and prefixes may be continued as long as the rules might set forth. Then phase 3 may begin where a card is drawn from the root, prefix and suffix decks, respectively. The player must then give the meaning of each word element or morpheme and he may also be given bonus points for combining the cards to form a word made up of a prefix and root, or root and suffix, or prefix and suffix.

From the foregoing description of how the game might be played, it will become apparent to the player that the rules may be greatly varied and that the card game of the present invention may be played in many different and varied ways. As further examples as how the intrigue of the game may be enhanced, one may employ wagering rules whereby a player might wager points already received as to whether he will correctly give the definition of the next cards which he will draw.

As a further example, all the cards withdrawn by each player may be retained so that at the end of the game the players might be permitted within time limits to formulate as many words as possible from the morphemes to obtain extra points.

It should further be apparent that when the term "card" is employed that this also includes any suitable display element or body such as blocks or squares of wood or any other suitable material.

In order to facilitate scoring and to have a scoring system which is in conformity with the difficulty of the word element or morpheme involved, the cards may be marked with a number corresponding to the number of points which each player should receive. In other words, instead of giving say for example 1 point for each root card alone to which the player orally gives the definition, each root might have a different number adjacent thereto to indicate the variance in difficulty of giving the definition of different roots.

Claims

I claim:

1. A vocabulary building card game comprising a plurality of card decks, each of said decks displaying a different morpheme group indicia such that one of said card decks displays word roots upon one face of each card contained therein and the remaining of said card decks respectively display different word affix groups upon one face of each card contained in the respective group decks, each of said cards bearing indicia comprising the definition of its displayed morpheme on the face opposite said one face, a dealing holder receiving said decks of cards in respective selection positions with the aforesaid morpheme group and definition indicia concealed and adapted to permit withdrawal of said cards without previous exposure of the aforesaid morpheme group and definition indicia displayed thereon, and further exposed indicia at said respective selection positions to indicate the morpheme group there positioned.

2. The vocabulary building card game of claim 1 characterized in that each of said cards bears thereon a usage example of its respective prefix, root or suffix.

3. The vocabulary building card game of claim 1 characterized in that each respective set of cards is a different color.

4. The vocabulary building card game of claim 1 wherein said dealing holder consists of a box for containment of the card game having a bottom with upwardly extending side walls and a lid with downwardly extending side walls to enclose the side walls of said bottom, and a card cover strip having a pair of parallel end flanges extending in the same direction for reception between the side walls of said bottom and said lid.