how do you sign knight in ASL?

I don't know of an official Sign for KNIGHT. Aside from those few people especially skilled in ASL performing arts, Deafs generally create Signs only for the things that we speak of regularly. (There are not half as many ASL Signs as there are English words.) The people in my groups don't ever talk about knights!

When we are faced with terms that we do not know how to Sign, we first analyze the word. What is a knight? He is a soldier, usually of noble birth, who serves and protects the royal family. Then we consider what is unique about him. He is generally thought of as gallantly mounting his white steed, wearing a suit of shining armour, and rescuing fair maidens. (The "white" and "fair" details will resonate more with Hearing than they do with Deafs.) So that is what we need to convey. There is no definitive way to go about this. You portray it as you see it.

In these cases, if you prefer not to simply fingerspell, which is fine, you assume the role of the character. It's A LOT more interesting and fun to do it this way-- IF you know how. This is a skill that takes many years to cultivate. Not everyone can be a gifted ASL storyteller.

I would begin to set the stage with glosses such as LONG-AGO + SOLDIER + KING (or ROYAL) + CONNECT. (I would fingerspell KNIGHT one time in order to establish it. [Some Deafs might be familiar with the word. You never know who knows what.]) I might depict a SHIELD + METAL and/or a HELMET + COIF. (The latter is the mail chain that is worn on the head.)

Once that is established, I would then demonstrate, in a highly animated, grandiose, and swashbuckling manner, a knight retrieving a sword from its sheath (maybe first jumping onto his white steed)-- or bowing very ceremoniously to be conferred by the queen. I would take special care to mimic the stance and countenance befitting a proud and valiant knight. I would keep adding markers as needed-- until I saw indications that my concepts had been understood. (You can add "clues" such as jousting, lifting a fair maiden onto a horse, perhaps dragon-fighting, and so forth. You can add the name of a famous similar character for comparison if you know one.)

Something like that. Everyone will do this differently. And I would not do it the same way twice. We sometimes have more time and energy to invest than others.

Once I was sure that my image was familiar, I would assign a temporary home-Sign to my character-- based on one of the most unique traits. I would tend to choose the one that my audience seemed to respond to the best. (Perhaps SWORD? SHIELD? HORSEMAN?) I would use that Sign to mean KNIGHT for the rest of the story.

Watch how a very skilled Deaf guy personifies a Ninja character beautifully on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L91KVUXRBq8

©

I am Hard-of-Hearing, a native ASL Signer, and I teach ASL.

There is a reason it's called AMERICAN Sign Language, it's the sign language used in the US. Other countries and languages have their own sign language, different from that of ASL.