With regard to the ERP neural responses, our bilingual DC speakers showed earlier activation of ERP components compared to previous studies with bilingual Mandarin-English speakers. The bilinguals in the present study are native speakers of a Germanic language, while in previous studies second language learners of a Germanic language were investigated (Qu et al., 2012; Yu et al., 2014). Thus, differences in proficiency may explain a divergence of activation in the ERPs. Specifically, both Yu et al. (2014) and Qu et al. (2012) reported the first significant differences between phoneme match and mismatch conditions from ~190 ms after picture presentation. In the present study, however, phonological processing was first revealed during the 125–175 ms time window. Phoneme mismatch trials induced greater positive amplitudes compared to the phoneme match condition. This component could reflect a P2 with easier retrieval of phonologically related words in general. While a meta-analysis of neurophysiological studies has demonstrated a pattern of processing steps of among others lexical access and phonological encoding during speech production (Indefrey, 2011), it has to be noted that the link between cognitive operations and neurophysiological observations has to be taken with caution (Munding et al., 2016).