The fact that it can be demonstrated that relexification plays a role in the formation of various types of languages (e.g. mixed languages, pidgins, creoles) argues that this is a process available to human cognition. It is a means of creating new languages in a relatively short time. It may apply to part of the lexicon, as in mixed languages, or the entire lexicon, as in pidgin and creole languages. Whether it applies to part of the lexicon or the whole lexicon depends on the motivation for creating a new language and the overall situation in which the process takes place. As we saw in chapter 2, mixed languages are created in bilingual communities with the motivation of creating an in-group language. By contrast, pidgin and creole languages are created in multilingual communities with the purpose of easing communication between groups that do not have a common language, whence the necessity to relexify the whole lexicon. As a cognitive process, however, relexification is independent from the various contexts in which it applies. The fact that it exists and the very nature of the process support Sproat's (1985) and Pranka's (1983) proposal that phonological representations are stored independently in the brain.

The nature of relexification, and the facts that it is available to human cognition and is effectively used in the rapid creation of new languages, have consequences for the theory of the transmission and acquisition of lexicons in situations where new languages, like creoles, are formed.