Rotten alveolar ducts cut out in the republic (2,8)
I believe the answer is:
el salvador
'the republic' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.
'rotten alveolar ducts cut out' is the wordplay.
'rotten' indicates anagramming the letters.
'out' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'alveolar'+'ducts'='alveolarducts'
'alveolarducts' with 'cut' taken out is 'alveolards'.
'alveolards' anagrammed gives 'EL SALVADOR'.
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for el salvador that I've seen before include "Country of Central America" , "Central American state" , "land in the Americas" , "country abroad" , "Central American country" .)