Ayiti Toma

While perusing various readings pertinent to another project, we came across references to the land of Allada as Aizönu Tome or Aida Tome. Apparently, the tome part means something like "country of" or perhaps "land of." This, of course, reminded us of the phrase Ayiti Toma in Haitian Creole. I guess it's somewhat obvious and unsurprising, but this seems to be an example of the influence of Fongbe or related languages in Benin shaping Haitian Creole. But what explains the shift in Haitian Creole pronunciation of tome to toma? Another theory, included in J.B. Romain's Africanismes haitiens quotes an implausible notion that Ayiti Toma is derived from the Toma peoples of Guinea. This seems rather unlikely since it is unclear how many Toma ended up in Saint Domingue. Moreover, one would have to ask why a name for their particular ethnic group is attached to Ayiti. A link to the Fon language makes more sense given the evidence of that language on Haitian Creole and multiple aspects of Haitian culture.