[grey413]

As I understand it, English at it's core is a Germanic language that underwent significant creolization with scandinavian sources. That core then acquired a significant amount of Old French and latin vocabulary, particularly in upper class terminology.

The creolization is why English has a relatively simple grammar, and all the word sources is why we have like 16-20 vowel sounds trying to cram into latin characters.

[umanwizard]

> English has a relatively simple grammar

You mean "relatively simple morphology". English phonology and syntax are not simple at all (e.g. lots of information carried by word order).