I don't remember its name, but I watched a visual rendition of an onomatopoeic story written for the BBC radio about 60 years past.

And Lord of the Rings is also full of onomatopoeia, it's all very interesting.

But yes, translation usually either retains the meaning or the sound and feel, unless languages are close. Pidgin Nigerian mostly uses English, I thought? So it is mostly dealing with grammar issues?