Associated Wilson polynomials

From a contiguous relation obtained by Wilson for terminating 2-balanced very well-poised₉ F ₈ hypergeometric functions of unit argument, we derive a pair of three term recurrence relations for very well-poised₇ F ₆'s. From these we obtain solutions to the recurrence relation for associated Wilson polynomials and spectral properties of the corresponding Jacobi matrix. A calculation of the basic weight function yields a generalization of Dougall's theorem.Communicated by Mourad Ismail.