Breakdown of تابلوی آفتابخوردهی مغازه معلوم نیست.
بودنbudan
to be
مغازهmaghâze
shop
تابلوtâblo
sign (signboard)
معلومma'lum
clear
Questions & Answers about تابلوی آفتابخوردهی مغازه معلوم نیست.
How is the compound adjective آفتابخورده constructed here?
It is formed by combining the noun آفتاب (sun) with the bare past participle خورده (struck/hit). This "Noun + bare Past Participle" structure creates a compound adjective describing the resulting state of the noun. Here, it describes a sign that exists in the state of having been "struck by the sun."
Doesn't خوردن mean "to eat"? Why is it used to mean "faded"?
While you first learned خوردن as "to eat," it also frequently means "to hit," "to strike," or "to collide with." A sign that is آفتابخورده has literally been "sun-struck" or "sun-beaten" over a long period, which naturally translates to "sun-faded" in English.
Can you explain the Ezafe chain in تابلوی آفتابخوردهی مغازه?
In Farsi, adjectives generally come before possessors in an Ezafe chain. The first Ezafe links the noun تابلو to its adjective آفتابخورده. The second Ezafe links that entire descriptive phrase to the possessor مغازه. As a quick refresher: because both تابلو and آفتابخورده end in vowels, the Ezafe is written and pronounced with a ی (ye) to bridge the sounds.
Could I use واضح (vâzeh) instead of معلوم (ma'lum) in this sentence?
Yes, they are very similar here. معلوم نیست broadly means "it is not evident" or "it cannot be made out" (you can't tell what it says). واضح نیست strictly means "it is not clear/sharp." You could also use (it is not legible) if you specifically mean the text can't be read.