ONlwSG

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toirp f. [t̪ʰɔɾ̥ʲp], gen. idem, in the sense ‘sod’ and tarp m. [t̪ʰaɾ̥p], gen. tarpa -[ə], in the sense ‘clod, lump’ are derived from ON torf nt. ‘turf, sod’ by MacBain (1896; 1911, s.vv. tarp, toirp), also Henderson (1910, 117, s.v. tarp), MacLennan (1925, s.vv. tarp, toirp; so also Stewart 2004, 415, s.v. tarp, 416, s.v. toirp) and McDonald (2009, 423). There are a number of variants: tarp ~ torp, with a ~ o alternation (A); tairp ~ toirp, from an oblique case form (B); and tarpan ~ torpan, with the nominally diminutive suffix -an -[an] (C):

A 1. SG tarp
Shaw 1780: ‘clod, lump’; MacFarlane 1815: ‘idem’; Armstrong 1825: ‘clod, lump of earth or clay’; HSS 1828: ‘clod, lump’; MacBain 1896; 1911: ‘idem’; Dwelly 1911: ‘clod, lump of earth or clay’; MacLennan 1925: ‘clod, lump’; Wentworth 2003a, s.v. clay: ?tarp ‘human clay, human body’; 

?Through confusion with SG corp ‘body, carcase (in distinction to soul); corpse’ (Dwelly 1911).

AFB^˄: ‘clod, lump of earth’.

A 2. SG torp
Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄: ‘torp, tuirp 

Whether tuirp is an alternative form of or an inflected form of torp is not specified.

“big belly (as cow etc.)” ’; AFB^˄: ‘clod, lump of earth; paunch’.

B 1. SG tairp
Dwelly 1911: see tarp.

B 2. SG toirp
Lhuyd 1700, 196: XXVII.12: a turf ‘toirp’ (Argyllshire); M^cAlpine 1832: ‘sod, divot; thick person’; MacBain 1896; 1911: ‘sod’; MacEachen 1906: ‘turf, sod’; Dwelly 1911: ‘idem’; MacLennan 1925: ‘divot, sod, turf’; AFB^˄: ‘idem’.

C 1. SG tarpan
Shaw 1780: ‘cluster’; Mac Farlan 1795: ‘idem’; MacFarlane 1815: ‘idem’; Armstrong 1825: ‘idem’, ‘little clod’; HSS 1828: ‘cluster’; Dwelly 1911: ‘cluster; little clod’; AFB^˄: ‘small clod, small lump of earth’.

C 2. SG torpan
Dwelly 1911: see tarpan; AFB^˄: ‘small clod, small lump of earth’.

ON torf (in final -[v]) would formally be expected to yield SG *[t̪ʰɔɾ͡ɔv] or similar. SG toirp etc. is no doubt related to Ir. torpa ‘a clump, clod’, 

For example, cf. Lhuyd 1707: tarp ‘clod’, tarpán ‘cluster’; O’Brien 1768: tarp ‘clod, lump’, tarpán ‘cluster’; O’Reilly 1817: tarp ‘clod, lump’, tarpán ‘cluster’; Ó Dónaill 1977: tarp = torpa; torp, torpa ‘clump, clod; lumpish thing’; tarpán = torpán; torpán ‘clump, clod; roundish thing, lumpish person, pot-bellied person’ (var. torpachán); toirpín ‘lumpish thing; small thickset person; porpoise’ (var. tóirpeachán, tóirpín). (?Cf. torbán ‘tadpole’ (Ó Dónaill 1977), but which otherwise probably goes back to EG dorb ‘small insect or worm, esp. one that lives in water’ (eDIL^˄), hence Ir. doirb ‘water beetle’ (Ó Dónaill), (West Donegal) doirbín ‘tadpole’ (pers. comm. Seòsamh Watson), SG doirb ‘unspecific term for a small/tiny/insignificant creature (e.g. small fry, minnow, worm, leech, small person)’, doirbeag ‘unspecific term for small wriggling animals (esp. minnows, tadpoles, fry, worms)’ (AFB^˄).)

for which cf. Early Modern Irish torpán ‘clump, clod’ and the derivative torpachán ‘a lumpish person, pot-bellied person’; all of which may go back to Eng. turf (in final -[f]), with phonemic interchange between /f/ and /p/ in Gaelic, for which we may perhaps compare Eng. shelf yielding Ir. siolpa (besides the later borrowing seilf ), and Scot skelf yielding SG sgeilp (besides the later borrowing sgeilf ).

SG torpan ‘crab’ (Shaw 1780; Mac Farlan 1795: tàrpan; MacFarlane 1815: tarpan; Armstrong 1825: idem; HSS 1828: idem; Dwelly 1911: idem; AFB^˄: torpan, tarpan) and Ir. tarpán (Lhuyd 1707, listed under to-; O’Reilly 1817) and torpán ‘idem’ (O’Brien 1768; Dinneen 1927) are considered to be corruptions of partan and portán (partán), respectively (O’Brien 1768, s.v. torpán; Vendryes 1996, s.v. idem).

Derivatives: compare, for example, SG tarpach adj. ‘cloddy, bulky, weighty’, tarpanach adj. ‘cloddy’, tarpachd f. ‘bulkiness’ (Armstrong 1825), toirpeanta adj. ‘squat, thick’ (MacLennan 1925) and torpach, tarpach adj. ‘bulging, bulky’ (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄).