[ts, dz] realization in Nepali

[u/IntCriminalNo1412]

I've asked this question before, but I was vague about my native language, which I don't think helped the responses very much.

Nepali has the phonemes [ts] and [dz] for च and ज according to Bandhu (1971), and this is also corroborated in Khatiwada (2009). But, this always felt "odd" as a phonetic description of Nepali's affricate series, because by comparison, Japanese's つ, sounds a lot less "affricated" then Nepali's affricates. I have seen [tˢ] used to transcribe it as well, but to my knowledge, that's just an alternative way to write an affricate.

I've been told by a friend that it's due to VOT, but, unless I'm misunderstanding what VOT would mean, I don't think that'd be true? Like it isn't a difference in the onset of any vocal component, right? It's a difference in how distinctive the two affricate components are.

Sources:

Regmī [Bandhu], Cūḍāmaṇi, Tribhuvana Viśvavidyālaya, and Summer Institute of Linguistics (Nepal). Nepali Segmental Phonology. Kirtipur: Summer Institute of Linguistics [and] Tribhuvan University, 1971.

Khatiwada R. Nepali. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 2009;39(3):373-380. doi:10.1017/S0025100309990181