In my view, "by" is a regular preposition. And, yes, the noun clause 
"the speaker would need to breathe where" is the object of the preposition.
Gerald

At 03:46 PM 4/16/2009, you wrote:
>Hello
>
>How would you analyze this sentence?
>
>These were determined by where the speaker would need to breathe.
>
>Is 'where the speaker would need to breathe' the object of the 
>preposition 'by'? Is 'determined by' possibly a phrasal verb? I 
>checked Longman's Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. It wasn't in there. 
>In either case would 'where the speaker would need to breathe' be a 
>nominal? I guess it could be. We can say 'where we go to dinner is 
>up to you,' for example.
>
>Janet
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