> Not like English where there are approximately twelfty billion different rules, and an exception to sixfty million of them.

One of the most interesting things I did in college is take a class on the history of the English language. If I remember the lectures correctly, the reason English is the way it is is because practically everyone in Western Europe got themselves a piece of the British Isles at some point in history and decided to settle down. The conquerors were the minority, so they needed to learn the native tongue to rule their new vassals.

The language of the Britons was at first incredibly complex, with all sorts of rules for gender, title and a system of inflections difficult to memorize. Because of this difficulty, the conquerors tended to speak with simpler grammar and use as much of their own language as possible. This is why we call cows cows (from the English 'kine') but their meat is beef (from the French 'boeuf'). The Norman lords weren't out in the pastures raising the cattle, but they were certainly dining on it.

Over many years and many new sets of foreign invaders, this worked to change the language. If the king only speaks Pidgin English, you're going to offend him if you talk over his head. From this (and some other factors I've forgotten) comes Modern English, with lots of words, natural genders, relatively simple grammar and tons of exceptions to its rules, particularly where pronunciation is concerned.