 Among other activities he founded the modern German language journal "Wirkendes Wort" and was a co-founder of the Institut für Deutsche Sprache (Mannheim).Reacting to older linguists' emphasis on form (especially phonology and morphology), Weisgerber initiated what he called "inhaltbezogene Grammatik" ('content-related grammar').Starting from the study of translation problems and of colour amnesia, he contributed notably to the theory that language determines and structures our apprehension of reality.