  In a recent paper Ismail, Masson, and Suslov have established a continuous
orthogonality relation and some other properties of a $_2\varphi_1$-Bessel
function on a $q$-quadratic grid. Dick Askey suggested that the ``Bessel-type
orthogonality'' at the $_2\varphi_1$-level has really a general character and
can be extended up to the $_8\varphi_7$-level. Very-well-poised
$_8\varphi_7$-functions are known as a nonterminating version of the classical
Askey--Wilson polynomials. Askey's congecture has been proved by the author. In
the present paper we discuss in details some properties of the orthogonal
$_8\varphi_7$-functions. Another type of the orthogonality relation for a
very-well-poised $_8\varphi_7$-function was recently found by Askey, Rahman,
and Suslov.
