This paper deals with cross-linguistic influence (CLI) in early trilingualism involving the languages German, English and Farsi. The data come from the case study of the author's two children growing up in a trilingual family within a monolingual German-speaking environment. Specific types of CLI from the non-dominant language Farsi on German and English are explained as being triggered by structural features of Farsi that cater to general cognitive tendencies towards iconicity and transparency, thus providing a unifying conceptual explanation for what may be termed "minority influence".