Here in Rome, Kay sounded like a provincial? (4)
I believe the answer is:
hick
'a provincial?' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'here in rome kay sounded' is the wordplay.
'here in rome' becomes 'hic' ('here' in Latin).
'sounded' shows a homophone (sound like).
'kay' is a homophone of 'k'.
'hic'+'k'='HICK'
'like' is the link.
(Other definitions for hick that I've seen before include "Bumpkin" , "Yokel (American)" .)