High-ranking bureaucrat's language (8)
I believe the answer is:
mandarin
This clue is a double definition.
'high-ranking bureaucrat's' is the first definition.
(I've seen this before)
'language' is the second definition.
(Mandarin is an example)
(Other definitions for mandarin that I've seen before include "Fruity" , "Top civil servant" , "Language formerly used by educated Chinese, or a kind of orange" , "Chinese language; fruit" , "Asiatic duck" .)