Anglo-Saxon and Norman French blend into one language

During the hundreds of years when Anglo-Saxon and Norman French were blending into one language, the slow combining process caused the words of both languages to take on a uniquely English sound. That's why we detect no difference between words of Anglo-Saxon origin; such as, eat and sleep and those of Norman origin; such as, face and pen.

In the centuries following its emergence as a modern language, English adopted thousands of words from other languages; especially, since England became a nation of international merchants, traders, explorers and colonizers. Most of these words don't look or sound particulary foreign to us because their sounds and spellings were Anglicized. Yacht, booze, easel and pickle may hint slightly of their Dutch origin, but nap, leak, toy, snap and kit, also Dutch, don't seem at all foreign.

Each of the following lists presents just a small sample of Anglicized loan words
From Arabic (either borrowed directly or via Italian, French, or Smanish) come: cotton, orange, sugar, almanac, alcohol, algebra, giraffe, magazine, and zero. From German, we have: noodle, seminar, bum, nix, halt, poker, swindler, stroll, and sleazy. From Italian are derived: balcony, bandit, minature, umbrella, cartoon, bank, cash, concert, and attack. From Spanish come: cask, cargo, chocolate, guitar, plaza, tomato, patio, and ranch. Smaller contributions have come from Hebrew: amen, jubilee, cherub, and sabbath; from Hindi: bungalow, pajamas, cot, loot, thug, jungle, and shampoo; Persian contributed: bazaar, caravan, magic, rice, rose, tape, and tiger; Portuguese: albino, molasses, and pagoda; Pacific island languages: bamboo, taboo, tatoo, and gingham; West African languages: banana, jazz, banjo, tote, gorilla, and yam; and American Indian: moose, raccoon, skunk, mocasin, and mackinaw.