Two main viewpoints have been consistently implied in linguistic research on creativity. The externalist sees creativity as outside the normal language, and the internalist views creativity as a basic process of language use. In this paper, creativity is regarded as the adaptation of the potential of systems to the demands of a particular act of communication. Any modification must be motivated; it is also restricted by the tolerance level of language users. Creativity is not a matter of texts or a special focus on the message, but is a shared activity of speaker and hearer. The modification that the speaker performs on systems or on system correlation, as well as his motivation, must be recovered by the hearer. The basic mechanisms of creativity are means of recombination; new elements added to the repertory must appear in motivating combinations within or among systems. This definition of creativity is more general and flexible than are the older theories. Creativity is the process whereby we become aware of the present and the possible conditions for the organization of cognition, and whereby we enable others to reenact that awareness. In whatever modifications are performed on prevailing systems, language users gain new insights into both the standards of those systems and their potential for change. (DF)