English has undergone significant changes throughout its history, marked by inflectional simplification (Old to Middle English), vocabulary expansion (Middle English), the Great Vowel Shift (15th-18th centuries), standardization (Early Modern English), incorporation of Latin and Greek words (Renaissance onwards), development of regional dialects and varieties (Colonial period), and modern lexical innovation (19th-21st centuries). These developments have shaped English into a dynamic, flexible, and globally influential language.