Anton Sherwood wrote (July 26):

> To a first approximation, a word has -ant/-ance/-ancy
> if its root is a Latin a-stem verb, -e- otherwise.

On second thought, since -a- is more usual for coinages from non-Latin
roots, it would be more accurate to say the ending has -e- if the root
is a Latin verb other than an a-stem.

--
Anton Sherwood, http://www.ogre.nu/
"How'd ya like to climb this high *without* no mountain?" --Porky Pine