What exactly does ‘ikanakya’ mean?

Hello, all! Well, that's pretty much my question. What does ikanakya mean, exactly? I mean, I know it comes from ikimasu but that's as far as I go. How do you go from the -masu form to the... um... -kya form...? And when would you use it?

Thank you very much!

it is a very informal version of ikanakereba naranai or ikanakereba narimasen.

It basically means must.

ashita Tokyo ni ikenakya
I must go to Tokyo tomorrow

This form can be used with other verbs too

mai nichi ni kudamono o tabenakya
I must eat fruit everyday.

iku/ikimasu (to go/I go)
ikimasen (not to go/I don't go, in polite speech)
ikanai (I don't go, in familiar speech)
ikanakute (I don't go, in its connective form)
ikanakute wa narimasen (literally: "It's no go if I don't go" = "I must go")

And this "ikanakute wa" part tends to be shortened to "ikanakucha" or "ikanakya," and the "...narimasen" part dropped altogether in casual speech.

It's like saying "Gotta go".

yes, "ikanakya" is a shortened, more familiar form of "ikanakerebanarimasen"...

Some more information, it is "Kansai ben". that means, people from kansai region (Nara, Kyoto, Osaka, etc.) use it more often than the rest of the people.

So, in the first response to your question, "I must go to Tokyo" clearly shows that the person saying it its outside of Tokyo.

:)

In Fukuoka (Kyushu) you might say
ikanaiikan,ikanto or other dirty little abbreviations.

TKYO-ben: Ashita shiken ga aru kara, hayaku kaeranakereba narimasen. Jaa, mata ne!
"I have a test tomorrow, so I must go home. See you later!"
FUK-ben: Ashita shiken ga aru ken, kyou wa hayo kaeranto. Jaa, honnara ne!
ENG: "Got a test tomorrow, so I gots to go home early today. Laters!"
(not a real translation, but compared to "pretty" hyojungo...)

Lord Magus,

I am from Osaka and I always thought "ikanakya" was commonly used in Kanto area. In Kansai we would say "ikana".

Ikuyo Kuruyo,

Well, thats a surpirse, if you are japanese its obvious that you have a word here.

I am learning japanese in my home country since 2007. My first teacher, was from Kyoto, and told us "---kya" is more used in kansai...
When I was in Japan last year, i preferred to use the shortened form "Ikanakeraba" in all locations haha.I was in Tokyo and Kyoto most of the time (3 months) and in fact I heard "hatarakanakya" for exmaple in Kyoto.
Well, its funny dont you think?

Have a nice day

Ikanakya is definitely NOT Kansaiben. It's a Tokyo word. In Kansai, they say Ikana-akan.

Trust me, I'm a native speaker who lived in Osaka for a long time.

You must have misunderstood your teacher.

Wow, thank you all for the answers, they really helped a lot!!

If you've heard people saying that in Kansai or in Tokyo area that person was probably from Nagoya.
It's very commonly used in Nagoya area and around there.