The article deals with the contribution of Professor R.I. Kudryashova to research of Russian dialectology. The largest works are analyzed, the basic achievements of the Volgograd ethnolinguistic school headed by her are determined.

The article deals with the cases of disaffrication in the Russian folk dialects. It is stated that this process originates from the proto-Slavic epoch when sonorous affricates disappeared. The reason for the linking element in affricates to disappear is in the principle of rising sonority fundamental for syllable structure in the proto-Slavic language.

The article deals with the history of ethnolinguistic research in the region, the work of the Russian language department of the Volgograd State Socio-Pedagogical Institute (University) in gathering and classification of dialectal material. The contribution to the establishment and development of the Volgograd ethnolinguistic school by L.M. Orlov, R.I. Kudryashova and other researchers is determined.

There is considered the ethnic and subethnic population of the Volgograd region, determined the key role of the Russian people, characterized its dialectal peculiarities, analyzed the folk speech of the Ukrainians, the Tatars who live in the region. There are found out the locations where the Kazakhs, the Azerbaijanis, the Armenians and people of other nations live.

Based on the dialectal material there are considered the linguistic cultural peculiarities of implementation in linguistic mind of dialect bearers of the phraseological semantic opposition “wealth - poverty”. There is represented the linguistic cultural analysis of phrasal units that reflect all the points of people’s perception of wealth and poverty.

There is considered the reflection in the creative work of a modern Russian writer B.P. Yekimov of the peculiarities of the linguistic culture of Don Cossacks. There are analyzed the text fragments (textemes) full of linguistic cultural contents, reflecting the urgent significant for dialect native speakers notions about the reality. There is characterized the role of B.P. Yekimov’s creative work in the development of the dialect lexicography.