Use an UnboundField and set its BindingPath. The following two articles from our online help documentation for NetAdvantage Win Client (WPF 2008 Volume 2) provides more information, one to do this in code and the other through XAML:Using an Unbound Field to Display a Complex PropertyUsing an Unbound Field to Display a Complex Property (XAML)
I can comment on part of your question.
I believe we used "fields" instead of "columns" because these entities may not visually appear as a "column" in the XamDataGrid. Likewise, we use "records" instead of "rows" since these might not visually appear as "rows" on the screen. For instance, one record might appear as four separate rows, with two fields per column and another field that spans both columns.
We indeed try to set up our controls so that knowledge of similar constructions can be re-used. When needed, such as when terminiology would be imprecise in the context of the control or when the existing "similar construction" isn't able to handle what we want the control to accomplish, we'll deviate from this approach.