<p>Onomatopoeia engages both visual and auditory modes, helping children establish connections between referent and phonological system, promote vocabulary learning, and enhance listening comprehension. As children grow older and become more familiar with conventional words, the significance of onomatopoeia in language development may decrease. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the role of onomatopoeia chronologically, we divided 119 Chinese-speaking children into younger (average age: 3; 11) and older cohorts (average age: 6; 2), with the age cutoff set at 5; 0. The participants were asked to complete a researcher-developed onomatopoeia recognition test, where they had to judge whether the onomatopoeia representation matched the corresponding image. Accuracy and response time were recorded. Additionally, this study included tests for Chinese morphological and phonological awareness, as well as vocabulary knowledge (conventional words) and listening comprehension. After controlling for age, non-verbal intelligence, and metalinguistic awareness, the hierarchical regression analysis revealed that onomatopoeia mapping emerged as a unique predictor of vocabulary knowledge in the younger cohort. However, in the older cohort, a surprising negative relationship was observed between onomatopoeia mapping and listening comprehension. These results suggest that onomatopoeia may scaffold children’s early language development. As children mature, the role of onomatopoeia in their language development may decrease. It is worth noting that onomatopoeia continues to play a crucial role in fostering the comprehensive development of metalinguistic awareness.</p>