-nce - -ncy - -nt(s) SKETCH
This is a page containing a researcher's thoughts in trying to establishing any regularity in the use of the large number of English words which show different forms, and meanings, of the suffixes -nt (whose plural form -nts makes a near homophone with -nce), -nce and -ncy. There is a briefer explanation at -nce - -nts , and a number of articles are being grouped in the Category:-nce - -nts. This page in itself may not be of much use to most users of AWE, but it may help focus the the thoughts of some; and it is to be hoped that any reader who has any helpful thoughts will leave a message by sending an e-mail to academicwriting@hotmail.co.uk on the 'talk' page, or clicking on the tab above labelled talk and writing your thoughts in the page that appears. It is appreciated if contributors sign - mostly because two-way communication seems proper. Leave your name and an-e-mail address at which you can be reached. Otherwise, comments will have a response lodged on the same page.
- There seems no logic in the use of some -nt words as adjectives, with no corresponding noun (e.g. 'percipient' and 'incipient'), while with others like 'recipient' the noun usage far outweighs the adjectival.
- In some groups, the -nce ending word is virtually synonymous with the -ncy equivalent; with others, they are clearly differentiated, as in 'transparence' and 'transparency'. In a third group, they are subtly different - and often used as synonyms, which appears a loss to the possibilities of language.
- There are misleading -ncy words, like 'necromancy', 'fancy' and 'unchancy'
