Dia bercakap dengan peguamnya.

Yes — dia can mean either he or she. Malay third-person singular pronouns do not normally mark gender.

So:

• dia = he / she
• the exact gender usually comes from context

This is very common in Malay, and learners coming from English often notice it right away because English forces you to choose he or she, but Malay usually does not.

Cakap is the base word related to speaking / talking.
The form bercakap is a verb built with the prefix ber-.

In this sentence, bercakap means to speak / to talk.

A useful way to think about it:

• cakap = speech / talk / say / speak, depending on context
• bercakap = to talk / to speak

In everyday Malay, people may also use cakap by itself in speech, but bercakap is a clear and standard verb form.

In bercakap, the prefix ber- helps form a verb, often one that describes an action done by the subject.

So:

• cakap → root related to speaking
• bercakap → to talk / to speak

You do not always need to translate ber- as a separate word. It is better to learn the whole form bercakap as a verb.

For learners, the main point is:

• ber- often turns a base word into a verb
• in this case, it gives you the natural verb bercakap

Here, dengan means with.

So bercakap dengan peguamnya means talking/speaking with his/her lawyer.

A very common pattern is:

• bercakap dengan seseorang = to speak with someone

Malay often uses dengan where English uses with.

Because -nya is attached directly to the noun.

So:

• peguam = lawyer
• peguamnya = his lawyer / her lawyer

In Malay, short endings like -nya are written together with the word they belong to.

This is different from English, where possession is usually shown with a separate word like his or her.

In this sentence, -nya most naturally means his or her.

So:

• peguamnya = his lawyer or her lawyer

Because dia is gender-neutral, -nya is also gender-neutral in practice here.

A learner should know that -nya can have more than one use in Malay, but in this sentence the simplest and most natural interpretation is possession:

• his/her lawyer

Pretty much, yes.

The structure is:

• Dia = subject
• bercakap = verb
• dengan peguamnya = prepositional phrase

So it follows a pattern like:

• Subject + Verb + Prepositional phrase

That is quite similar to English:

• He/She talks with his/her lawyer

This makes the sentence fairly easy for an English speaker to follow.

Not by grammar alone. Malay verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So Dia bercakap dengan peguamnya could mean different times depending on context, such as:

• He/She is speaking with his/her lawyer
• He/She speaks with his/her lawyer
• sometimes even He/She spoke with his/her lawyer, if the time is already clear from context

Malay usually adds time words if needed, for example:

• sekarang = now
• semalam = yesterday
• esok = tomorrow

So the verb form itself does not tell you tense.

Yes, in everyday conversation that can sound natural.

The difference is roughly:

• bercakap = a bit more standard or formal
• cakap = very common in casual speech

So both may be heard, but bercakap is a very good form to learn because it is clear and standard.

Usually, dengan is the better choice here.

• bercakap dengan seseorang = talk with someone
• bercakap kepada seseorang = speak to someone

Both can exist, but they are not exactly the same.

If the meaning is a two-way conversation, dengan is the most natural choice.
If the meaning is more one-way, like addressing someone, kepada may be possible.

So in this sentence, dengan fits very well.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• peguam ≈ puh-goo-am
• peguamnya ≈ puh-goo-am-nyuh

A few tips:

• gua in peguam is said clearly; it is not compressed into one English-style sound
• ny in -nya is like the ny sound in canyon for many English speakers

You do not need perfect pronunciation immediately, but it helps to remember that -nya is a real spoken ending, not just something written.