Carry the can without Harry or Mark - that's a stress speaking French (6)

I believe the answer is:

accent

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'stress speaking french' is the definition.
'accent' can be an answer for 'stress' ('accent' can be a synonym of 'stress'). I am unsure of the 'speaking french' bit.

I don't understand the rest of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for accent that I've seen before include "A diacritic mark" , "Underline" , "Distinctive manner of speaking" , "Here's, maybe, a grave" , "Tone of voice" .)

I've seen this clue in the Irish Times and the Irish Times (Crosaire).

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