English perhaps long for Scottish union over extended period (8)
I believe the answer is:
language
'english perhaps' is the definition.
(I know that English is a language)
'long for scottish union over extended period' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'long' could be 'l' and 'l' is found within the answer.
'union' could be 'u' (common abbreviation as in 'Trades Union Congress') and 'u' is located in the answer.
'period' could be 'age' (age is a kind of period) and 'age' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'ang' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for language that I've seen before include "talk" , "Irish, English, French, for instance" , "Polish" , "Communication system such as English" , "Formalised system of communication" .)