Start to note (8)
I believe the answer is:
asterisk
'start' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to communication as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'note' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'note' could be 'te' (musical note) and 'te' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for asterisk that I've seen before include "Star-shaped character used in printing" , "star-shaped figure" , "Star-shaped symbol as reference mark." , "Star of typography" , "Sarkiest (Anag)" .)