The French can produce language (5)
I believe the answer is:
latin
'language' is the definition.
(I know that Latin is a dead language)
'the french can' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'la' ('the' in French).
'can' becomes 'tin' (both are metal containers).
'la'+'tin'='LATIN'
'produce' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for latin that I've seen before include "a quarter of Parisians" , "The language of old Rome" , "Language of the Caesars" , "'Dead language, though still taught (5)'" , "Classical language" .)