How to Pronounce Posterior Cricoarytenoid

Say it like this: pos-TEER-ee-or kry-ko-ah-RIT-en-oyd. The stress falls on the second syllable of "posterior" (TEER) and on the third syllable of "cricoarytenoid" (RIT). If you say it slowly at first, you can break it into chunks: posterior (the position) + cricoarytenoid (the muscle name).

Posterior means "toward the back." In anatomy, it describes something located at the rear or behind another structure. So posterior cricoarytenoid refers to a muscle on the back side of the larynx.

These are the names of two small cartilages in your larynx (voice box). The cricoid is ring-shaped (crico- comes from the Greek word for ring), and the arytenoid cartilages sit on top of it. The posterior cricoarytenoid muscle connects these two structures.

Many people stress the wrong syllable and say pos-TEER-ee-OR instead of pos-TEER-ee-or. Also, "cricoarytenoid" is often rushed or slurred—slow down and say each part: CRY-ko-ah-RIT-en-oyd, making sure RIT gets the stress.

Here's how it splits up: pos-TEER-ee-or (4 syllables) + cry-co-ar-i-te-noid (6 syllables). When you say the whole thing together, it's 10 syllables total, but grouping it by the two word parts makes it easier to tackle.

Doctors and speech professionals sometimes just call it the "PCA" (pronounced letter by letter: P-C-A) or say "posterior cricoarytenoid" in full. There's no single common short nickname like there is for some other terms.

You'll see "arytenoid" in other larynx muscle names, like lateral cricoarytenoid and interarytenoid. All of these muscles work together around the arytenoid cartilages in the voice box, so they share that common part of the name.

You might hear it like this: "The posterior cricoarytenoid muscle is unique because it's the only one that pulls the vocal cords apart." This correctly identifies which muscle you're talking about and hints at what makes it special.