A scheme is proposed for coupling the vibrational motion of atoms trapped at distant sites of a dilute optical lattice. The coupling is provided by the backaction of the atomic motion on the lattice potential wells, which is strongly enhanced by recycling the lattice beams in a high finesse optical ring resonator. The resulting phononlike excitations are characterized and their frequency spectrum is calculated. How this coupling can be utilized for implementation of quantum logic gates in an optical lattice is discussed. A concrete experimental scenario in a rubidium lattice is illustrated.