The development of the English language reflects the early history of
Britain, the successive waves of invasions (Anglo-Saxon,Scandinavian and
Norman). The invasions of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the 5th and 6th
centuries brought several dialects of the language, generally called Old English
(sometimes also called Anglo-Saxon).The Scandinavian invasions from the 8th to
the 10th centuries added some words from Old Norse (e.g. anger, birth, bull,
husband, knife, seat, sister, sky). The Norman invasion in 1066 brought the
impact of the French language. In the process o f the amalgation of the two
languages, which was practically completed by the tim of Chaucer (the end of the
14th centruy), the Englisch language lost most of its inflections and English
grammar became generally simplified.