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

[emeraldsedai.livejournal.com]

Oh "critters" is totally American--but I'm pretty sure it dates back to almost Elizabethan times, when settlers from England wandered off up into the hills and kept talking that way long after the language of folks closer to the seaports evolved. If an American uses either "victuals" or "breeches" at all today, s/he is likely to pronunce them as spelled, just as s/he is likely to say "creatures".

Linguistically, the vittles/britches/critters pronunciation must be related. Wonder why they fragmented...?

[kispexi2.livejournal.com]

I suppose they all have links to hunting or sailing or something else in the survivalist line?