also: そんぴ
existence or nonexistence; life or death
Formal noun used to ask or state whether something or someone exists or is alive. Often appears in contexts like checking survival or verifying presence.
The fate of the missing persons has not yet been confirmed.
Investigate whether the ancient documents still exist.
存否 asks whether something exists at all, while 存廃 asks whether an existing system should be kept or abolished.
Standard kanji form; the reading そんぴ is more common in modern usage.
Alternate reading; less common than そんぴ.
Compound of 存 (exist, suppose) and 否 (negation, not). The reading そんぴ is a regular on'yomi combination; ぞんぴ is a variant with rendaku-like voicing, now less common.