verbs usage for TION and ING

Can someone explain the rationale of adding TION to a verb. In other words, when I take a verb such as LIMIT and turn it into a noun I can make it limit, limiting, or limitation. The word Limitation means something a little different than limit or limiting. IS there a rule or explanation about this applies to all or at least most cases?

As often, the answer to questions like this goes back to German, Greek or (in this case) Latin

My now agéd Lewis and Short tells me that it all starts with the noun limes (genitive limitis). The entry tells us its original meaning was cross-path, balk between fields:-

The Romans usually had in their fields two broad and two narrower paths; the principal balk from east to west was called the limes decumanus; that from north to south was called cardo.

From there the use developed to mean any boundary or limit. It stretched to the legal idea of a distinction or difference.

The related verb, limito had the supine (which forms the past passive tenses and participle) limitatum. From verbs like limito, nouns can be formed into a third declension noun ending -atio (genitive emphasized text-ationis). So limito means, say Lewis and Short,

enclose with boundaries or limits, and to fix settle or determine {my summary, not quote}

So words derived from Latin first conjugation verbs, are formed in this way: limitationm as in devastation, station, consternation. Second, third and fourth conjugation verbs lead to nouns ending in -itio, as tradition, ignition, repetition.