The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word SERBO-CROAT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
S
E
R
B
O
-
C
R
O
A
T
More clues leading to the result SERBO-CROAT
- Language making sober actor struggle
- Former language bores actor when translated
- Language of Castro bore translating
- Robots care about language
- European moves as October Revolution’s beginning
- Language into which to translate 12 and 24 down
- What's spoken extensively: Romania, Bosnia, Czech Republic– that's just for starters!
- Language of terrible boaster carrying zero credit
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Former language" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case former language = serbo-croat.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.