Etymology in a course on the history of the German language

This article suggests a method for reinforcing some of the topics covered in an upper-division or graduate course on the history of the German language. Among these are the second or High German consonant shift and the influence of culture on the development of the language. In three-week-long projects toward the end of the semester, students investigate modem German words according to conceptual groups (''Musikinstrumente,'' ''Saugetiere,'' etc.) from the perspective of etymology. For their groups of words, students perform a number of concrete tasks. The project introduced in this article is practical, for it enhances decision-making and organizational skills of the learner, expands vocabulary, and makes purposeful use of etymological sources as if achieves its primary goal of deepening the practical understanding of these issues.