Another "divided by a common language" question

[darkemeralds]

I got tons of great insights and nuance from my UK friends on my "a historical" vs "an historical" pronunciation question, and now I have another: Isaiah, as in the Bible.

I-zay-uh or I-zigh-uh? Or something else?

Again, we're assuming an educated upper-middle-class speaker (in fact, a clergyman). My old choir director, American but very British in his musical education, said I-zigh-uh. Perhaps it was just a strange affectation of his (he had many) or something that is sung one way and said another.

Any thoughts, O Britannic pals o' mine?

ETA since it's the middle of the night in Europe and I can squeeze this in: neether or nyether? And is "waistcoat" generally pronounced as it's spelled? Or even spelt?

Oh! and pastels--as in the artistic medium. Accent on first or second syllable?

TIA!

Comments

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I say Isaiah and Pastel like lamentables, but the others I would say Neetha and Wayscut FWIW, and we only live about ten miles away from each other!

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

That's interesting. I've known people who grew up just on the other side of the mountains from here, and though I think it would take a serious linguist to hear differences in most of our pronunciations, there were whole swaths of expressions from over the mountains that I'd never heard in my life. The one that I remember best is "slicker 'n snot" to describe an icy road.

Your pronunciation of waistcoat makes me realize that yes, I probably really have heard it pronounced "weskit" (in fact, I think I've seen it written that way!), and wasn't just making that up in my head.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I was talking to H about your question and we decided that we say Neetha sometimes and Nyetha sometimes. Also, he remembers his grandad said 'weskit' like that, but we say it more drawn out: waayskut. Interesting to examine your own practice, what you normally do without thinking.