Original: Phonetics was studied as early as 2500 years ago in ancient India, with account of the place and manner of articulation of consonants in his 5th century BC treatise on Sanskrit.
Simplified: The first time phonetics was studied was 2,500 years ago in what is now India, with, when he wrote about the place and manner of articulation of consonants in Sanskrit in his 5th century BC essay on Sanskrit linguistics.