The Syllable and the Foot : Summary - Speech Resource Pages

eg. /stremp/ in English is an accidental gap because /str/ is legal
(as in "string"), /emp/ is legal (as in "hemp"), but /stremp/
happens not to be a word.
Illegal Syllables
These violate a phonotactic constraint in that language.
eg. /knep/ is illegal in English because no words can start with
/kn/. In German, this would be an accidental gap since /kn/ does
occur (‘Knoten’, ‘Kneipe’ etc.).
Maximum Onset Principle
Phonotactic constraints in the onset are sometimes used to syllabify
polysyllabic words under an algorithm known as the maximum
onset principle. The problem is as follows. If we have a word like
'athlete', which we know consists of two syllables, where does the
syllable boundary occur? The maximum onset principle algorithm
works on the basis that as many consonants should be syllabified
with a following vowel, providing that the resulting sequence is
phonotactically legal. In this case, we have to decide whether /θl/
belongs with the first syllable, the second, or whether /θ/ goes with
the first, and /l/ with the second etc.
Based on the maximum onset principle, we would ask:-
(i) Are there any words in English that can begin with /l/?
Yes, e.g. 'leaf', 'lot' etc.
Then assign /l/ to the second syllable.
(ii) Now move one slot to the left: are there any syllables that can
begin with /θl/?
No. Therefore, the syllable boundary goes after /θ/ i.e. the word
has two syllables, the first of which is /æθ/, and the second of
which is /liːt/.