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