diff --git a/packages/overture-schema-pyspark/src/overture/schema/pyspark/check.py b/packages/overture-schema-pyspark/src/overture/schema/pyspark/check.py
index 9500cf4e7..ac6d993b2 100644
--- a/packages/overture-schema-pyspark/src/overture/schema/pyspark/check.py
+++ b/packages/overture-schema-pyspark/src/overture/schema/pyspark/check.py
@@ -27,12 +27,21 @@ class Check:
     and report grouping), not how to access the data.  The expression in
     `expr` already encodes the access pattern.
 
-    `read_columns` names every top-level schema column the expression
-    dereferences -- one for a plain field check, several for a model-level
-    check that spans columns, plus any discriminator a variant gate reads.
-    `validate_model` drops a check when any column it reads is skipped or
-    structurally absent, so an unresolvable `F.col()` never reaches Spark;
-    it also treats these as the columns a check can be suppressed by name.
+    `expr` and `read_columns` are two views of one computation, and each is
+    a "column" in a different sense.  `read_columns` are real columns of the
+    underlying schema model -- the top-level columns the check must read to
+    evaluate.  There is always at least one; a model-level constraint that
+    spans fields names several, plus any discriminator a variant gate reads.
+    `expr` is a *virtual column*: it is not a column of the schema model but
+    one synthesized by the generated validation machinery to hold the
+    composed expression the Spark engine evaluates.  The two travel together
+    because the builder knows the read-set as it composes `expr`; recording
+    it is surer than recovering it from the finished `Column`.
+
+    `validate_model` drops a check when any column in `read_columns` is
+    skipped or structurally absent, so an unresolvable `F.col()` never
+    reaches Spark; it also treats these as the columns a check can be
+    suppressed by name.
     """
 
     field: str
diff --git a/packages/overture-schema-system/src/overture/schema/system/field_path.py b/packages/overture-schema-system/src/overture/schema/system/field_path.py
index 7b60fea56..df06232fe 100644
--- a/packages/overture-schema-system/src/overture/schema/system/field_path.py
+++ b/packages/overture-schema-system/src/overture/schema/system/field_path.py
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@
     "MapPath",
     "MapProjection",
     "MapSegment",
-    "PathSegment",
     "ScalarPath",
     "StructSegment",
     "coerce",
@@ -88,9 +87,6 @@ class MapSegment:
     projection: MapProjection
 
 
-PathSegment: TypeAlias = StructSegment | ArraySegment
-
-
 @dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True)
 class ScalarPath:
     """Locate a non-iterated value in a row."""
@@ -116,7 +112,7 @@ class ArrayPath:
     Invariant: `segments` contains at least one `ArraySegment`.
     """
 
-    segments: tuple[PathSegment, ...]
+    segments: tuple[StructSegment | ArraySegment, ...]
 
     def __post_init__(self) -> None:
         if not any(isinstance(s, ArraySegment) for s in self.segments):
@@ -334,14 +330,14 @@ def __str__(self) -> str:
 
 
 # The element type of any `FieldPath.segments`, across all three variants.
-# Broader than `PathSegment` (array/scalar paths only): a `MapPath` adds a
-# trailing `MapSegment`. Consumers that walk an arbitrary `FieldPath`'s
-# segments -- rather than a statically known `ArrayPath` -- annotate with
-# this so a `MapSegment` is not a type error.
+# Broader than an `ArrayPath`'s `StructSegment | ArraySegment`: a `MapPath`
+# adds a trailing `MapSegment`. Consumers that walk an arbitrary
+# `FieldPath`'s segments -- rather than a statically known `ArrayPath` --
+# annotate with this so a `MapSegment` is not a type error.
 FieldSegment: TypeAlias = StructSegment | ArraySegment | MapSegment
 
 
-def _segment_str(seg: PathSegment) -> str:
+def _segment_str(seg: StructSegment | ArraySegment) -> str:
     if isinstance(seg, ArraySegment):
         return seg.name + "[]" * seg.iter_count
     return seg.name